Spawn of Satan
by GrnEydDvl
Summary: Hitsugaya Toushiro and Kurosaki Karin, through a bizarre twist of fate, find themselves caring for a baby. It's not technically theirs, but that hardly matters. What does matter is that they must protect it from its real father at all costs. HitsuKarin
1. It Has Begun

**Alright everyone, here's the story I promised at the end of "On the Wrong Foot." I've finally got the plot sorted out in my head, so I decided it was time to start writing. I re-wrote this chapter three times, and I'm still not so confident that this was the best way to start, since it's a little dark but…well, you'll see what I mean. This story is kind of twisted, I know, but hopefully something good will come out of it. After "Reincarnation" and "On the Wrong Foot," I feel like I have a lot to live up to. I hope I can meet your expectations for me (bites nails nervously). Anyway, let's get started!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters. I only own my own characters and ideas.**

It had been seven months since Aizen's rebellion, and Soul Society was still contemplating a newfound piece of information; that the hougyoku would take a year longer to awaken than anyone had previously thought, so Aizen had postponed the war. Not canceled, just postponed. This gave Soul Society more time to plan and train, but it also gave Aizen that same time, something no one was particularly excited about. But tonight was a time for celebration. Everyone had been on edge, waiting and wondering when Aizen would attack, and the knowledge that it wouldn't be for another few months eased some of the tension that had been building and festering.

But one person was not appeased by this news. If anything, it made him more anxious. Hitsugaya Toushiro sat in his office, staring unseeingly at his paperwork, his mind focused on something that most certainly was not located on his desk. Matsumoto had taken off an hour ago to toast the news with her drinking buddies, leaving Hitsugaya with his worries. Not that he would have shared them with her even if she _had_ been here, but she may have been able to distract him from them. She had that uncanny ability.

Sighing deeply, Hitsugaya reluctantly reached for a brush to actually begin working, when a hell butterfly flitted in through the door. Curious, and glad for the excuse to put off paperwork just a bit longer, Hitsugaya held out his finger for the butterfly to land and listened carefully to the telepathic message.

"To 10th squad taicho, Hitsugaya Toushiro," came Unohana's calm voice. "It has begun." Hitsugaya felt all the blood drain out of his face as the topic that just been bothering him was jolted to life. Literally.

"What?!" he thought desperately, dropping everything and shunpoing towards 4th squad as fast as he could. "How? It's too soon! Way too soon!"

Hitsugaya thought back to the conversation he had had with Unohana, almost four months ago. The day that had added another worry to his ever growing list. But this one had been placed at the very top.

"_Ah, Hitsugaya taicho," Unohana said sweetly as he entered the squad house. "Thank you for coming."_

"_Is everything alright, Unohana taicho?" Hitsugaya asked professionally. It was standard practice for a taicho to be informed of all injuries incurred by his or her squad members, but usually a memo or a hell butterfly sufficed. It was much less common for a taicho to actually be summoned to 4__th__ squad. Unohana's face was as blank as always. She smiled sweetly and told Hitsugaya to follow her to her office._

_Once they were alone, Unohana let her warm expression falter, as she looked at Hitsugaya with compassion and concern._

_"Hitsugaya taicho," she began, "I asked you to come here in person to inform you that Hinamori fukutaicho is pregnant." Hitsugaya froze. He was convinced his heart stopped beating right then and there._

_"Wh…what?" he asked in a shaky voice. "__**Pregnant**__?! But how?!" Pregnancies were so rare in Soul Society to begin with and Hinamori had never, at least to Hitsugaya's knowledge, had any opportunity to become pregnant. Well, clearly he was wrong. The thought disturbed him greatly._

_"Then I am right in assuming that you are not the father," Unohana said, gauging Hitsugaya's reaction._

_"Of course not!" Hitsugaya spat. "Hinamori's practically my sister. She's not my lover and never will be. But then, who…?" he trailed off, not really wanting to know the answer that question. He thought it would be safer for everyone involved if he didn't. Unohana sighed._

_"I was hoping I was wrong," she said sadly. "I ran a paternity test, but I still hoped there was a chance that the child might be yours."_

_"Who's is it?" Hitsugaya asked, bracing himself for the worst. Unohana paused before answering._

_"Aizen's." Hitsugaya balked. Aizen's!?! Hinamori was carrying Aizen's baby! It was too horrible to comprehend._

_"That bastard!" Hitsugaya growled, feeling more hatred than he had ever felt in his life course through his veins. But he had to calm down. There were more pressing matters to deal with._

_"Does anyone else know?" Hitsugaya asked, closing his eyes as he tried to regain his composure._

_"No," Unohana replied. "She's still in a coma, so she's had few visitors. I noticed the possible signs of pregnancy, which is why I ran the tests, but I have informed no one else. I understand the implications of this as well as you do. The baby's existence must be kept a secret from Aizen." Hitsugaya nodded. He agreed completely._

_"For now," Unohana continued, "I will move Hinamori fukutaicho to a more secure room under the pretense that she needs intensive care. I will have sole access to that room. No one will find that unusual, I do it for special cases from time to time. I also think it's best if we tell no one. The fewer people that know, the better. Hopefully, the war will be over before the child is born, and this will not be an issue."_

They had told Yamamoto soutaicho of course. They had to. But other than the three of them, no one knew of the pregnancy. Unohana suspected that even Hinamori herself didn't know, as she hadn't been far enough along with her pregnancy when she was injured and placed in her coma. She said it was a miracle that the child had even survived, but apparently, Aizen's sword had missed it.

Hitsugaya had hoped and prayed that Unohana would be right, and that the war would end long before the child was born. But that had been before the pronouncement that the war was delayed. And now…

"It's only been seven months!" Hitsugaya thought as he quickened his pace. "How could she be in labor already?!"

He finally reached 4th squad and had to do his best to appear cool and collected, something which was usually perfectly natural for him. But at the moment, he was having difficulty.

He pretended to be going on a routine visit to see injured squad members, nodding politely in recognition of everyone who addressed him, and headed for Hinamori's room. She had been moved to intensive care, under Unohana's instructions, and he alone had been taught how to pass through the kido barrier Unohana had erected around the room. He took a deep breath, not sure of what he would find inside, and entered.

It was remarkably calm for a delivery room. Hinamori was sleeping peacefully, as always. Hitsugaya thought for a moment that he had misunderstood Unohana's message, but the enlarged lump that had grown in Hinamori's belly was noticeably absent. Unohana was leaning over something in the corner, but she looked up when Hitsugaya entered.

"Ah, Hitsugaya taicho!" she said brightly. "I'm glad you came."

"What's going on?" Hitsugaya asked confused. "I thought she was in labor."

"She was," Unohana assured him. "But because she can't deliver a baby in her condition, I did a C-section. It didn't take very long."

"But isn't she too early? It's only been seven months…"

"It was too difficult for her body to carry the baby to term. He is small, but otherwise perfectly healthy. Would you like to meet him?"

Him. The baby had a sex. That made him real. He was no longer some figurative idea floating around in Hitsugaya's head. He actually existed. Hitsugaya took a deep breath.

"Sure," he replied. Unohana smiled at him and indicated the small stand she had been hovering over. Hitsugaya approached it with apprehension. There he was. Hitsugaya had never seen a newborn before. Everything about him was tiny; his hands, his mouth, his ears. His nose he had undoubtedly inherited from his father, but from what little hair he had, Hitsugaya could see that it was onyx colored, like his mother's.

Hitsugaya felt many emotions run through him as he gazed at the baby. Fury that Aizen had put Hinamori through this, sorrow that Hinamori wasn't awake to experience this moment, and compassion as he looked at an innocent child who he knew, by circumstances beyond his control, would have a harrowing future. But above all, Hitsugaya felt protective. Regardless of who the father was, this was Hinamori's son. His nephew in a way. And, just as he protected its mother, Hitsugaya knew he would guard this baby with his life.

"We should inform the soutaicho," he said at last. Unohana nodded.

"I'll stay here," she decided. "Someone should look after the baby." With one final glance at the sleeping infant and a thank you to Unohana, Hitsugaya made his way to 1st squad.

"What are we going to do now?" he wondered. "Caring for a child is entirely different from simply hiding a pregnancy. Unohana taicho and I can't do it alone. Not without arousing suspicion."

He reached 1st squad and requested an audience with Yamamoto. He didn't have to wait long before he was admitted access.

"Hitsugaya taicho," Yamamoto acknowledged him. "What brings you here?"

"I have a matter of vital importance to discuss with you, Yamamoto soutaicho," Hitsugaya replied respectfully. "In private." Yamamoto's fukutaicho, Sasakibe, stiffened in indignation, but he nevertheless bowed himself out.

"Now," Yamamoto began, his eyes boring into Hitsugaya's. "What is so urgent and important that you deemed it necessary to come yourself, without subordinates?"

"Hinamori has delivered," Hitsugaya replied, skipping all pretenses.

"I see," Yamamoto said in a rather bored voice. But despite his tone, Hitsugaya knew Yamamoto was thinking hard. The existence of this child threw a wrench into all their plans.

"Soutaicho," Hitsugaya stated, "if the child is to remain hidden from Aizen, which we all agree is necessary for everyone's safety, then I do not believe that keeping him in Seireitei is the wisest option. Babies are rare enough as it is, and the birth of one is a momentous occasion. If the child's presence is made public, Aizen will know at once. However, the thought of keeping him in hiding in Seireitei is neither practical nor safe."

"What are you suggesting, Hitsugaya taicho?" Yamamoto prompted. Hitsugaya sighed. He hoped it wouldn't have to come to this, but he could see no other choice.

"I believe the safest option at the moment would be to hide the child in the living world. Babies are common there, he will blend in without too much effort." Yamamoto nodded.

"I agree," he said. "But the child will still need a guardian. We cannot abandon him to the whims of living souls. Besides, he will need protection in case his true identity is discovered. Do you volunteer?"

"Me?" Hitsugaya knew that he was the only choice, since Unohana could not possibly be spared and they still wanted to keep the baby a secret, but this was no standard bodyguard mission. He didn't know the first thing about caring for an infant.

"Word will be put out that you are on a top secret mission relating to the current situation," Yamamoto continued, ignoring Hitsugaya's outburst of surprise. "Since you have been to the living world before regarding the Aizen situation, no one will think it strange. In addition, I suggest that you enlist the assistance of the shinigami representative, Kurosaki Ichigo. His extensive knowledge of the living world may be invaluable to you." Hitsugaya suppressed a groan. This mission was sounding worse and worse by the second. Not only would he have to look after a baby, but he would have to stay with Ichigo. The man annoyed him to no end. But, for the sake of the baby, he would manage. Somehow.

"I will leave at once," Hitsugaya said with a bow.

**Good? Bad? Ugly? Crazy idea I know, but I thought I'd give it a try. I apologize both for the slow start and the lack of Karin, (she'll be in the next chapter, I promise), but it's a weird stage to set, so I thought this chapter needed the background so you all aren't horribly confused. Don't worry about the tone, it will lighten up, at least for a while. The whole story is not dark and depressing. Please let me know what you think of this idea, I think it may be my strangest yet.**

**On a side note, is anyone else annoyed by the constant rearranging of things in this site? I don't like the new organization, it's too hard to find things. But then again, it'll probably change again tomorrow.**


	2. What's With the Baby?

**Wow, thanks guys! I can't **_**believe**_** the reaction I got for the first chapter! I'm really really touched. I'm glad you think this looks like an interesting story. I hope I can live up to that.**

"I'm going on a mission," Hitsugaya informed Matsumoto as he returned to the office to make sure everything was in order for his departure.

"Yay!" Matsumoto shouted, running over to him and throwing her arms around his head. "Sounds like fun! Where are we going this time?"

"You're drunk aren't you?" Hitsugaya said unnecessarily as he pried her off. "Really, it's the middle of the workday. And I said I, not we. I'm sorry Matsumoto, but I have to do this one alone. You're in charge of the squad while I'm gone. Make sure you don't get too behind in paperwork. I want to be able to move in the office once I get back." Matsumoto looked at him with concern. His attempt at humor did nothing to relieve the worry she could see behind his eyes. And he hadn't gone on a mission alone since…well, actually, he had _never_ gone on a mission alone since he had become a taicho. Taichos almost always traveled with subordinates.

"Is everything alright?" she asked, sobering up at his expression. Hitsugaya sighed. He hated that he couldn't tell Matsumoto any of this. It was hard enough keeping the pregnancy a secret. Matsumoto had a tendency to weasel anything out of anyone, but luckily, he had so far managed to brush it off as just more apprehension about the war. But he would really have liked to bring her with this time, if for nothing else than to take care of the baby. Not that she had any more experience with babies than he did, but somehow, he thought she would be a little more intuitive about something like this than he was. Human interaction was not his strong point.

"Everything's fine Matsumoto," he assured her. "Just another Aizen related mission. But this one is classified." Well, at least he didn't have to lie about that. Matsumoto still didn't look convinced.

"Just be careful taicho," she cautioned. He nodded.

"I will."

ooooooooooooooooo

Hitsugaya waited until the cover of darkness to slip through an unguarded senkai gate, his precious cargo strapped to his back and hidden by both a large cloak and a powerful reiatsu-suppressing kido barrier. He held Hyourinmaru in his hands, the baby having taken over the sword's usual location. Luckily, the baby was sleeping soundly, and Hitsugaya prayed that it would stay that way, at least until he reached Ichigo's. After that…well, he was trying not to think that far ahead.

The baby whimpered a few times during the journey, but for the most part, he remained still. Hitsugaya tried to move as smoothly as possible to avoid jostling him and disturbing him.

He emerged in Karakura town and the first thing he saw was snow. It was fully winter here, unlike in Soul Society where the weather never changed all that drastically. Everything, the rooftops, the streetlamps, the parked cars, was covered in a thick layer of the icy powder which twinkled like diamonds in the bright moonlight. Thick icicles dangled from the trees like frozen fruit. A chill wind blew thought the air, causing them to clank together and tinkle like wind chimes, creating a music unique to the season. Hitsugaya pulled the cloak tighter around his shoulders. He hardly noticed the frozen wonderland, he was far too accustomed to the sight of ice to find much majesty in it, nor was he bothered at all by the temperature, but he was pretty sure the baby wouldn't like the cold. Deftly as a cat, Hitsugaya tread on the snow without leaving a single footprint as he headed off soundlessly towards his destination.

Dawn was breaking when Hitsugaya finally saw the Kurosaki clinic come into view, and he leapt soundlessly onto Ichigo's windowsill, careful not to slip on the layer of ice that coated it. The shinigami representative, who was still awake for some reason, was sitting at his desk, head buried in a book, with a look of stern concentration on his face. Hitsugaya tapped on the frosted glass.

"AHHHH!" Ichigo screamed, jumping a foot in the air and turning to face the window, breathing like he had just run a marathon. Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow as he felt something shift on his back.

"Toushiro!" Ichigo exclaimed, rushing to pull the window open. "What the hell were you thinking, surprising me like that!? Man, I almost had a heart attack!"

"Kurosaki, keep your voice down…" Hitsugaya warned, but it was too late. The lump under Hitsugaya's cloak woke up and began to cry.

"Damn it, you woke him up!" Hitsugaya cursed, reaching up to pull his cloak off.

"Him?" Ichigo asked confused. "Toushiro, what…?" But his question was answered for him as the cloak fell off Hitsugaya's shoulders to reveal the screaming infant. His wails increased in pitch as the fabric was removed from his face, and Hitsugaya gingerly lifted him out of the pouch on his back and into his arms. He had never held him before, nor any baby for that matter. Unohana had placed him in the pouch to begin with. Hitsugaya didn't have a clue what to do and Ichigo, even if he did know, was still way too startled by the sudden appearance of a taicho with a baby in tow to be of any assistance.

"Who's making all the racket?" grunted an annoyed voice from under Ichigo's bed. "I need my beauty sleep!" A stuffed lion emerged and Ichigo grabbed him by the neck and shoved him into Hitsugaya's face.

"Here," he offered. "Use him."

"Use me for what?" Kon protested, kicking wildly in the air in a vain attempt to free himself from Ichigo's clutches. "Nobody uses Kon-sama for anything!"

"I don't think this is helping," Hitsugaya groaned as the baby screamed louder and louder.

"Ichi-nii, what the heck is going on in here?" came a voice, and the door was opened to reveal a raven haired tomboy, clad in knee length soccer shorts and a white tank top, who was wiping the sleep out of her eyes. "I didn't know you cried like a bab…" She trailed off as she took in the highly unusual scene in front of her.

"Toushiro!" she gasped, recognizing him from several months prior when he had helped her and her friends win a soccer game. "What are you doing here? And what's with the baby?"

"I think we'd all like to know that," Ichigo added.

"Put me down first!" Kon demanded.

"I…" Hitsugaya began, but was cut off by another piercing wail courtesy of the baby in his arms.

"Here, let me help," Karin offered. Hitsugaya relinquished the baby eagerly.

"Shh, there there little one," Karin cooed, rocking the baby gently back and forth. His sobs began to slow in response to Karin's calm voice and he eventually ceased his outburst and fell back to sleep.

"How did you do that?" Hitsugaya gaped in awe.

"Any idiot knows to rock a crying baby Toushiro," Karin replied, rolling her eyes. "And you all need to keep your voices down. Babies don't like shouting. It's common sense."

"Maybe for you," Hitsugaya grumbled. "I've never even held a baby before. And it's Hitsugaya taicho, not Toushiro."

"Really?" Karin asked curiously, ignoring his correction of his name completely. "Don't they have babies in Soul Society?"

"Not many," Hitsugaya responded. "I've only ever seen a handful in my life, and that was back in my Rukongai days."

"So where did this one come from?" Ichigo asked, trying to bring them back on topic. "And why did you bring it here?" Ichigo paused for a second as a thought struck him.

"It's not…yours, is it?" he asked inquisitively, his eyes opening wide with that realization. "Toushiro, you dog, I didn't know you had it in you!"

"Of course he's not mine!" Hitsugaya spat, trying desperately to keep his temper in check as Karin stifled a snicker. "And he's a he, not an it!" Ichigo laughed.

"Sorry, I should have figured. I mean, you haven't even gone through puberty yet, have you?"

"Kurosaki!" Hitsugaya growled threateningly. "You forget who you're speaking to!"

"And _you_ forget who's in the room!" Karin scolded them, as the baby in her arms began to squirm. Hitsugaya held his breath, but luckily, Karin's soothing rocking lulled him back to sleep before he could start crying again.

"This is going to be _impossible_!" Hitsugaya mumbled, rubbing his temples.

"Oh, Karin-chan, let me rest in your bosom too…" Kon cried, flying straight towards her, but Ichigo yanked him out of the air and squashed him under his foot before he could reach his target.

"So are you ready to answer my questions yet?" Ichigo asked, ignoring Kon's muffled cries for help. Hitsugaya glared at him, but knew that they deserved an explanation. Although, he wasn't entirely sure what to tell them, and how much of the truth he wanted to reveal. Still, he knew he had to say something.

"This child is the first baby to be born in Seireitei in over fifty years," he began. Well, that was true at least. "And because of that, we have reason to believe that Aizen may want to get his hands on him." Also true, although only partially. But good enough.

"Why would Aizen want a baby?" Karin pondered. Hitsugaya considered her. How did she know who Aizen was? How much did she know?

"She knows everything Toushiro," Ichigo answered his unasked question. "She pried it out of me when I got back from Hueco Mondo. I still have the marks."

"It's your own damn fault for disappearing for so long," she retorted. "I have every right to know."

"Aizen could have any number of reasons for wanting a child," Hitsugaya cut them off before they could start fighting. "Experiments, holding him for ransom, who knows. That doesn't really matter. The important thing is, Yamamoto soutaicho sent me on this mission. I am to hide the baby's true origins from everyone except for a few necessary parties and protect it at all costs. He suggested that I ask for your assistance in blending in and passing him off as an ordinary human baby. That's why I'm here."

"So, basically, you want us to adopt the kid?" Ichigo surmised. Hitsugaya scoffed.

"Hardly. I accept full responsibility for him."

"But you want to stay here," Ichigo continued. Pride wouldn't allow Hitsugaya to respond. "Well, I'm not so sure I can pull that off. I mean, 'he followed me home, can I keep him,' won't exactly work in this situation…"

"Oh, shut up Ichi-nii!" Karin interrupted. "You had Rukia-nee living in your closet for months. Besides, oyaji will be thrilled to put them up. Can't you just see him now? 'Oh Masaki look! I've had two more sons!' He won't _let_ them leave. Besides, are you really so heartless that you're going to throw an elementary student and a baby out on the street?"

"I'm _not_ an elementary student!" Hitsugaya insisted, but no one really cared.

"Fine," Ichigo caved. "But they're not staying in my room. I don't want to be woken up in the middle of the night by a crying baby."

"What, like you actually sleep?" Karin said sarcastically. "Well, fine, Yuzu's still on her ski trip, Toushiro can sleep in her bed."

"Who's Yuzu?" Hitsugaya asked.

"My twin sister," Karin replied. "Normally she's the one who takes care of the house and everything, but since my idiot brother has been gallivanting across this world and the next one, she almost had a nervous breakdown, so oyaji decided to send her on vacation with some friends to help her relax during our school holidays. Smartest thing he's ever done if you ask me. Although I've got to say, the timing is rather atrocious. No one would be better to take care of a baby. But whatever, we'll figure it out. I'll help if you want. I've got nothing better to do anyway, being on break and all."

"Thanks," Hitsugaya said gratefully. "I appreciate the help." Karin smiled at him.

"No problem! Think of it as a fair trade. You helped me with my soccer problem, so I'll help you with your baby problem."

"Count me out!" Ichigo said. "I don't want to touch that thing. Babies smell." Karin rolled her eyes.

"You're all heart Ichi-nii."

"And I'm not so sure I like the idea of him staying in Yuzu's bed," Ichigo said warily. "Where are you going to sleep?"

"In my bed. Honestly Ichi-nii, are you that dumb? He's already got one baby, he doesn't need another." Both Ichigo and Hitsugaya turned red at that and Karin burst out laughing at their embarrassment. Kon took advantage of Ichigo's distraction to worm his way out from under his foot and threatened to report him for stuffed animal abuse.

"What have I gotten myself into?" Hitsugaya wondered in exasperation.

**So what'd you think? I lightened the tone a bit, since I don't want this story to be as dark as I was making it out to be. It's going to stay light, at least for a bit. And the winter thing…well, it **_**was**_** the "winter" war they were supposed to be fighting, so I thought it was the right season to place this in. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter. It's not as interesting as I wanted it to be, but I had to get the ball rolling somehow. Oh well.**

**Oh, and I can't believe I'm saying this so early in the story, but shout out to Miichiya Mikan for guessing Ichigo's reaction. I suppose it was kind of predictable, but still, that was impressive :)**


	3. Hoshi

**OMG, I can't **_**believe**_** how many reviews this story has gotten! I never in a million years expected this story to get a reaction like this! Thanks so much, it means the world to me! You guys are so cool! :)**

The sun had fully risen by the time Karin convinced Ichigo to let Hitsugaya stay in Yuzu's bed. Hitsugaya himself couldn't have cared less where he slept, nor was he really paying much attention. The baby had woken up again, and Hitsugaya had taken over the task of calming him down since Karin was too busy arguing with her brother.

"I need to get us gigais," he announced, cutting into the sibling's bickering. "And then I need baby supplies. I don't have any."

"So you're going to tell Urahara about him?" Ichigo asked.

"Do I have a choice?" Hitsugaya grumbled. "Better him than Kurotshuchi. He'd probably want to experiment on the poor kid. Although, I'd really rather keep him a secret from everyone else related to Soul Society, but I can't see another way to get him a gigai."

"You know, you don't have to tell him about the baby," Karin said thoughtfully, her lips pursed with contemplation. "You could, you know, just appeal to his ego." Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow.

"Translation please?" Karin grinned.

"Not very creative are you?" she teased. "Looks like you'll need my help sooner that you thought." Hitsugaya scoffed.

"Whatever." Karin went back to her room to change out of her pajamas and returned a few minutes later clad in a thick red sweater and canary yellow snow boots. She had a woolen scarf covered in black and white soccer-ball-style checks wrapped around her neck, a red winter hat on her head and a white, puffy down coat slung over her arm.

"Ready," she said. "Let's go Toushiro."

"It's Hitsugaya taicho," he retorted, securing the still squirming baby into the pouch on his back and throwing the cloak around both of them. Karin looked at him like he had just grown a second head.

"Um, is that really what you're wearing?" she asked incredulously. Hitsugaya looked down at himself. He was dressed in his normal shihakusho and haori. The only addition was the black cloak. Well, and the baby carrier, but he couldn't help that.

"Yeah," he replied, not sure how exactly to interpret her statement. "This is what I always wear."

"You know it's like negative a billion degrees outside, right?" Karin said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You're going to freeze to death before you're even out the front door." Hitsugaya shrugged.

"Cold doesn't bother me," he replied nonchalantly. "My zanpakto's made of ice, remember?" Karin considered him for a moment, then left the room and returned with a hand-knitted, hot pink blanket covered in stars and mini-rainbows.

"Don't give me that look," Karin preempted before Hitsugaya could even mold his face into any semblance of an expression. "Yuzu made it for me for Christmas. I can't burn it for at least six months or I'll hurt her feelings. I know it's tacky, but it's the best I've got."

"I'm not wearing that!" Hitsugaya shot, instantly on the defensive. Frankly, he'd rather freeze to death than be caught, well, _dead_, with that on his body. Karin rolled her eyes.

"It's not for you, moron. It's for the baby. Just because you may have infinite tolerance to cold doesn't mean he does."

"Oh," Hitsugaya replied, feeling just as foolish as Karin was making him out to be. After making sure the baby was sufficiently warm, Hitsugaya and Karin bid Ichigo goodbye and slipped out of the house before, as Karin put it, "oyaji wakes up and begins his daily waterworks about missing Yuzu and forces me to make breakfast, which will just end up being cold cereal anyway since the last time I tried to cook, I managed to produce something resembling a hockey puck and a tortured turtle before I nearly blew up the house." Hitsugaya didn't fully understand her statement, but he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to.

As they walked, they could see the telltale signs of Karakura town waking up. Paper boys dressed up like the stay puffed marshmallow man trudged through the frozen tundra to deliver the morning news. The scent of hot coffee and frying eggs wafted out of the doors that were open and shut as quickly as possible to retrieve said newspapers. It was still early, too early to see the sun above the buildings of the city. The sky was a crisp, piercing blue, unmarred by clouds, making it seem all the more infinite. And all the more freezing. Even Hitsugaya, who thought he was immune to such sensations, could feel the chill. Karin's breath hung in the air as a visible, heavy mist every time she exhaled and her face quickly turned a bright rosy color. In her red hat, white coat, and yellow boots, Hitsugaya thought she looked quite like a plump chicken, but he knew better than to say so. Her hands were buried deep in her coat pockets for warmth as her feet crunched softly in the thick snow. Hitsugaya on the other hand, remained on top of it, not wanting to produce any footprints in his invisible state.

"How do you do that?" Karin asked him through chattering teeth.

"Do what? Ignore the cold?" Karin shook her head.

"No. Avoid making footprints. That's so neat."

"It's all a matter of controlling spirit particles. I can use them to support me so I'm technically not standing on the snow at all. I'm walking above it."

"Woah!" Karin marveled. "Can you teach me to do that?" Hitsugaya smirked.

"Unfortunately, despite your incredibly high reiatsu, you don't seem to have acquired any special abilities like your brother's friends. You don't seem to be particularly affected by him." Karin scoffed.

"Yeah, just my luck. I'm the only one who can see everything that's going on who can't do a damn thing about it. I mean, is babysitting really all I can do to help the cause."

"Babysitting's plenty," Hitsugaya assured her. "I don't know the first thing about babies."

"You're assuming I was referring to the baby weren't you?" she chided. It took a minute for that to sink in.

"I don't need a babysitter!" Hitsugaya snapped, but Karin was already laughing at him.

"You're something you know that," she said in a voice that actually sounded mildly impressed. "You accepted my help so readily even though you knew I was going to give you hell for it. Were you really that desperate?"

"Something like that," Hitsugaya replied vaguely, looking away from her. The truth was, although he did tremendously need her assistance, he couldn't help but feel slightly pleased that she had offered. He had thought about her more than once since he had helped her in that soccer game; how strong she was, how brave. How much she cared about her friends and family. She had a rough exterior, but he could also tell that inside, she had a soft heart. She reminded him a little of Hinamori, who stopped at nothing to reach her goal. But Karin had a biting wit and strength of will that Hinamori could never match. He had never met anyone quite like her. It was strange, but for some reason, he found that he was comfortable in her presence. Like he could actually be himself around her. He was surprisingly grateful for the opportunity to spend this time with her.

"So," Karin continued. "What's his name?"

"Huh?"

"The baby, dolt. He's got to have a name right? You never told me what it was."

"Well," Hitsugaya said awkwardly, "actually, he doesn't have one." Karin raised an eyebrow.

"What? You mean his parents didn't bother naming him? Don't they care?"

"Of course she cares!" Hitsugaya barked without thinking. "She just…wasn't in a condition to name him before we had to leave."

"Poor girl," Karin said sadly. "She doesn't get to spend any time with her infant son."

"Yeah," Hitsugaya agreed, thinking back to the image of a pale Hinamori lying lifeless on a sterile bed. It was so miraculous that she had even been able to have a baby, considering how fragile and comatose she was. "But I don't think she's in a condition to care for him at the moment either. She's…pretty injured." He left it at that, hoping Karin would simply think that he didn't want to talk about it. Luckily, she took the hint.

"Doesn't he have a father?" she asked. "You only mentioned the mother." Hitsugaya shifted uncomfortably. This was the most taboo topic they could possibly bring up.

"He is…away from Soul Society at the present time," he replied, choosing his words carefully. "That is all I can say about him. Sorry, but I can't reveal the parents identities. For their protection, you see." Karin nodded.

"Alright. But I still think we should give him a name. We can't just keep calling him 'it,' or, 'the baby.'" Hitsugaya smirked slightly.

"I guess so. But what?" Karin shrugged.

"I don't know. You know the parents right? What do you think they would name him?" Hitsugaya thought about that. He and Hinamori had never really talked much about having families or children. It wasn't something that had ever interested him much as a child, and Hinamori had been too young at the time to worry about such things. If he dug back into his memory bank, he could only think of a single time when the topic of children had ever been brought up.

_It was a hot summer evening, and the two of them had abandoned their sweltering room in favor of sleeping outside where they hoped they could catch a chance breeze. They lay head to head on the porch, gazing up at the stars._

"_Shiro-chan?" Hinamori asked._

"_What do you want, bed-wetter-Momo?" he grumbled sleepily._

"_What do you think our lives will be like in the future?"_

"_Ha?" he growled. "Why the heck do you care about something like that?"_

_"Don't know. Just thinking." She paused for a while. "I think I want to be a shinigami."_

_"Yeah, yeah, you've been saying that, but you know you're never going to do it," he retorted._

_"Moh, have some faith in me Shiro-chan!" she whined._

_"It's Hitsugaya-kun!" he snapped. Hinamori didn't respond._

_"Neh, Shiro-chan," she began after a while._

_"Hmmmm?" he drawled._

_"I think, after I become a shinigami, I want to get married and have lots of babies. Lots and lots of babies! As many as the stars!"_

_"You're going to need a really big house," Hitsugaya replied, and Hinamori giggled. "Now go to sleep bed-wetter."_

_"You're no fun Shiro-chan," she pouted, but Hitsugaya was already snoring._

"Hoshi," Hitsugaya stated simply. "Let's call him Hoshi."

"Hoshi?" Karin said confused. "Really? It's not really a name."

"Well we're not really naming him," Hitsugaya pointed out. "It's just a nickname so that we have something to call him while we're taking care of him. He can get a real name after this whole fiasco is over."

"I love how quickly you switched from 'I' to 'we,'" she joked. Hitsugaya checked.

"I thought you said you'd help…" he began, but Karin just snickered.

"I just find it ironic that the big powerful taicho needs help from a little eleven year old human girl." Hitsugaya scowled.

"I've already admitted that I know nothing about this topic," he defended.

"Oh, and I do? I'm not exactly the motherly type." Hitsugaya shrugged.

"You've got to know more than me." Karin chuckled.

"Why, because I'm a girl?"

"No," Hitsugaya stated coolly. "Just because, well, you seem like the kind of person who cares about others."

"Oh, and I guess you're not," Karin teased. "Have you ever taken care of anything before?" Hitsugaya glared at her.

"I'm a taicho!" he said indignity. "I take care of a whole squad."

"Yeah, but I mean like actually taking care of another living being. Or well, I guess a dead being in your case, but you know what I mean." Hitsugaya didn't really want to answer that. The honest answer was no, but that just sounded heartless.

"Have you?" he asked by way of reply, purposely avoiding the question.

"I had a cat once. Toodles. He lived in a shoebox in the backyard for a week. I brought him fish. Then he ran away."

"That was sweet of you," Hitsugaya said sarcastically. Karin pushed him.

"I was four years old. What do you want from me?"

"So basically, you have just as much experience as I do!" Hitsugaya declared triumphantly, than wondered why that was a good thing. "So you can't make fun of me for it!"

"Who said I was making fun of you?" she replied innocently. "You do a good enough job of that yourself." Hitsugaya scowled.

**Yeah, so not a whole lot happens in the chapter, but I thought it was a good chance to let Karin and Hitsugaya bond a little bit. You know, show what their relationship is like at this point, since they're not meeting for the first time, but they're also not lovers…yet. I hope you aren't bored yet. The next chapter should be really fun.**

**Note: "Hoshi" means "star" and Hitsugaya chose it because of Hinamori's wish to have as many children as the stars. Tacky, I know, but it's the kind of thing Hinamori would do, and that's what Hitsugaya is going for.  
**


	4. Changing a Baby

**Hey all. I don't have a lot to say except that again, this isn't really a plot rich chapter, but it is a necessary chapter for any baby story, and I'm pretty sure you all knew it was coming. I know this story is moving kind of slowly, but the plot will develop at some point, I promise. It's just taking me longer to get there than I thought. But hopefully you can find some enjoyment in between :P**

They finally reached Urahara's.

"You'd prefer if he didn't know you were here, right?" Karin asked knowingly.

"Yeah, but I have no idea how to get a gigai otherwise." Karin smirked.

"Leave that to me," she said mischievously. "You wait out here. I've got a plan." Hitsugaya was pretty convinced that no one on earth could heckle even a button out of Urahara, but he decided, if anyone could do it, it would probably be Karin.

"Alright," he acquiesced. "Give it your best shot." As Karin went inside, Hitsugaya increased the strength of the reiatsu suppressing kido barrier that he had placed around both himself and Hoshi. If anyone could sense anything through those barriers, it would be Urahara, and Hitsugaya was not particularly keen on making his presence known to him, not only to protect Hoshi, but also because he just couldn't stand the man. He was almost as annoying as Ichigo.

Half an hour later, Karin emerged from the Urahara shop, beaming triumphantly.

"Here you go!" she proclaimed, tossing two small black spheres at Hitsugaya. "Universal gigais. They take the shape of whoever merges their reiatsu with them. Hitsugaya gaped at her.

"How did you get these?" he marveled. Karin smiled vindictively.

"Oh, Urahara-san," she pleaded, gazing up at an invisible person with the most over-exaggerated puppy dog eyes Hitsugaya had ever seen. He honestly didn't think she was capable of making such a face. "You're such a talented inventor. But I was thinking the other day how horribly useless it is that gigais must be specially crafted for each person. I'm sure a brilliant man like yourself would have no trouble making a universal gigai." Karin pulled a disgusted face. "I swear, it is so easy to stroke that man's ego. He's got a head the size of his basement. Anyway, he went in the back for a bit and came out with these. Turns out he was working on them anyway."

"Where did you learn how do to that?" Hitsugaya asked, impressed but not willing to actually admit it. "That was so out of character for you, I can't believe he didn't see right through you." Karin smirked.

"Again, the ego. You've just got to know the limits of how much sucking up a person can take before they realize that you're doing it. With Urahara, it's practically infinite, but it's an art, let me tell you. I use it on my teachers all the time."

"You're quite scary, you know that?" Hitsugaya said, shaking his dead.

"Damn right!" Karin stated with pride. "And don't you forget it!" Just then, muffled cries began to emanate from under Hitsugaya's cloak.

"I bet he's hungry," Hitsugaya said as he pulled the baby into his arms and rocked him awkwardly. "He hasn't had anything to eat since I left Seireitei. And that was almost three hours ago."

"He probably needs a new diaper too," Karin added, leaning over to sniff him.

"Yup!" She waved her hand back and forth across her face to try and erase the smell. "Ew, Ichi-nii was right! Babies do smell! Do you have a spare diaper?"

"A what?" Karin gave him a deadpan look.

"Are you serious?" she groaned. "Wow, you really do know nothing about babies. Well, give that gigai a try and let's get out of here. I think you really need to go shopping." Hitsugaya ignored her jab at him, the fact that it was true wouldn't have helped him any, and passed her the screaming Hoshi so that he could merge with the gigai.

"Hey, not bad," Karin noted, as she watched him check all his joints. "It's at least as good as your old one."

"Yeah, but it's a bit harder to move in," he grumbled. "Plus, now I really am cold." The gigai had supplied him with a standard school uniform, but it wasn't prepared for the current deep freeze. Hitsugaya shivered furiously as he merged the second gigai with Hoshi. The baby seemed to take to it rather well. As Hoshi's reiastu flared during the merger, Hitsugaya noticed that it seemed to have a very similar quality to his mother's, although there was also something distinctly Aizen about it. Hitsugaya didn't much appreciate that, but there was nothing he could do about it. It wasn't Hoshi's fault he had an evil traitor for a father.

"Come on," Karin prompted. "Let's get you a coat before we do anything else. Otherwise the ice prince might actually freeze to death." Hitsugaya nodded, too cold to actually speak.

"Damn these gigais!" he cursed, rubbing his arms for warmth. "Why do they have to have normal human limitations?" Karin took pity on him and passed him her hat and scarf.

"They're not much, but they're better than nothing." Hitsugaya was too cold to complain. He took them gratefully and pulled them on. Karin tucked Hoshi inside her coat and they headed off in search of desperately needed supplies.

"You really came unprepared," Karin scolded as they walked. "No coat, no baby food, no diapers."

"Shhh…shuuuttttt…uuuppp…" Hitsugaya stuttered, his teeth clanking together so hard he thought they might crack.

"I thought you were supposed to be responsible," Karin continued undeterred. "It's like you didn't even know you were coming."

"I didn't!" Hitsugaya barked, the argument distracting him mildly from the icicles forming in his bloodstream. "Hoshi was born two months early! I wasn't expecting this to happen at all."

Karin opened her mouth to respond, but just then they turned a corner and Hitsugaya saw a store with several white statues in haughty poses wearing big puffy coats similar to Karin's. Hitsugaya had been dragged into enough clothing stores by Matsumoto to recognize this as one instantly, and he dashed inside before Karin could start talking. Shaking her head in amusement, Karin followed.

After getting Hitsugaya outfitted properly for the winter, they went to the back of the store where there was a small selection of baby clothes.

"I'm no good at this stuff," Hitsugaya mumbled as he sifted through the piles of powder blue jumpsuits.

"What's to be good at?" Karin shrugged, grabbing a handful. "He's an infant. It doesn't really matter what he wears, as long as he doesn't look horrendous." She held up an electric pink jumpsuit covered in floral print lace and complete with a frilly tutu.

"See, as long as you don't buy this, I'd say your taste is pretty good."

They also bought a baby snowsuit, which unfortunately had bunny ears. It was the only one available.

"Stupid humans," Hitsugaya complained as they paid. "Not all babies _have_ to like bunnies." After the clothing spree, they trudged their way to a pharmacy and loaded themselves up with baby formula, bottles, diapers, wipes, baby powder, a pacifier, and basically anything else available in the baby aisle.

"Do we really need all this stuff?" Hitsugaya asked curiously, gazing at a teething ring shaped like a spool of keys.

"No," Karin said, taking it from him. "He won't get teeth for months. We're buying enough as it is, don't get extra junk. Unless that was for you." Hitsugaya glared at her.

"You know, if we were in Soul Society you would never get away with saying stuff like that to me."

"Yeah, but we're not in Soul Society," Karin replied, finding a plain baby bottle and eagerly exchanging it for the one covered in ducks that was already in the cart. "We're on my turf, and you need my help. So you're stuck with my jeering. Unless you want to do this thing by yourself." As if to emphasize her point, Hoshi took that opportunity to start screaming again, and Hitsugaya grudgingly took him from Karin and attempted vainly to calm him down.

"Excuse me!" Karin called to a nearby employee. "Is there somewhere we can change a baby?"

"There's a changing table in the bathroom," the employee replied in a bored voice.

"Come on," Karin prompted, but Hitsugaya didn't budge.

"What do you mean, 'change a baby?'" he asked warily. "We're not _changing_ him! He's not going anywhere!" It took Karin a moment to realize that he was serious and when she finally did, she burst out laughing.

"Oh, Toushiro!" she gasped, wiping her eyes. "Oh you poor, naive little boy."

"I'm _not_ a…" Hitsugaya began, but Karin had already taken the baby from him and begun walking towards the bathroom.

"I'm going to _change_ him without you if you don't hurry!" she taunted, emphasizing the word 'change.' Hitsugaya scowled, wondering what the word actually meant, and followed her.

They squeezed inside the small one room bathroom and Karin lay Hoshi down on a rickety looking table in the corner.

"This is a pathetic changing table," she commented. "Most places nowadays have those fancy plastic ones that hang right on the wall."

"What, are you going to sacrifice him on an alter to a pagan god?" Hitsugaya asked incredulously, observing the scene. Karin laughed again.

"Wow, you are so clueless it hurts. When I said 'change,' I meant his diaper."

"You still haven't told me what a diaper is!" Hitsugaya retorted. Karin decided that showing him would be easier.

"It's this," she replied, pulling one out of the cart. "It collects his…um…excrement."

"Oh," Hitsugaya mumbled, feeling incredibly stupid. God, he hadn't felt dumb this many times in a single day in as long as he could remember.

Karin looked from the diaper to the baby and back several times before sighing deeply.

"But that's about all I know about diapers," she admitted. "I've never actually changed one before."

"What?!" Hitsugaya cried, suddenly feeling very helpless and hating it immensely. Karin rolled her eyes.

"Oh it can't be so hard," she said optimistically. She took a deep breath, rolled up her sleeves, and got to work. She began by undressing Hoshi and removing the cloth diaper he was wearing.

"Are you really so primitive that you're still using cloth diapers up there?" Karin asked in amusement as she pinched the edges between the tips of her fingers to touch as little of it as possible while throwing it in the trash.

"Don't look at me," Hitsugaya defended. "I didn't even know what a diaper was until a second ago. Besides, I've already told you, we don't have a lot of babies in Seireitei. And Hoshi was born early. We're not exactly prepared to take care of them."

"Yeah, whatever," she brushed him off. She looked back at the now naked Hoshi. "Come on, help me figure this out." Hitsugaya took the diaper from her and studied it from all angles. He had never seen anything like it before. It was white and puffy, like cotton, but with a slightly tougher consistency. The surface was relatively shiny, and seemed plasticy, although it was extremely flexible. He saw a large seam running down three of the sides and unfolded it carefully.

"It's not made of gold you know?" Karin mocked, highly entertained by the amount of concentration Hitsugaya was putting into his inspection of the diaper.

"Shut up," he growled. He decided to try wrapping it around Hoshi like a hot dog, but that turned out to be entirely ineffective. He tried patting it, folding it, rolling it, and scrunching it, but no matter what he did, he couldn't manipulate it in any way that would actually make it stay on Hoshi's body.

"How do you _do_ this?!" Hitsugaya cried in frustration. He found it horribly demeaning that he, the 10th squad taicho, was locked in a tiny bathroom with a sarcastic human and a naked baby, attempting the pathetic task of putting on a simple diaper and failing miserably. Matsumoto would have a stroke laughing if she saw him.

"It really can't be that hard," Karin said, trying to muffle her snickers. Hitsugaya glared at her, then held out the diaper.

"If it's so easy then you try…" he began, but was cut off as a warm liquid suddenly squirted him in the face.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" he screamed, dropping the diaper in his shock and jumping backwards, only to bash into the toilet and crash unceremoniously onto the floor. Karin was clutching her sides and gripping the changing table for support as her laughter threatened to split her face open.

"What _was_ that?" Hitsugaya hissed, rubbing his knee which had smashed into the toilet and reaching for a paper towel to wipe his face at the same time.

"Hoshi…Hoshi peed on you!" Karin explained, then doubled over again in a new round of laughter. Hitsugaya turned bright red.

"_What_?" he asked in a strangled voice. He had never been more revolted. Skipping the towel completely, he dove right for the sink, turned on the water, and stuck his entire head under the stream.

"Is everything ok in there?" called a voice from the other side of the door. "I'm coming in." The door opened to reveal the same acne-ridden, scrawny teenage employee who had directed them to the bathroom in the first place.

"I heard the crash…" he began, but his voice trailed off as he took in the incredibly bizarre scene in front of him. Hitsugaya still had his head in the sink and was apparently trying to drown himself. Karin was laughing so hard she was having difficulty breathing. And Hoshi had begun to cry again, most likely due to the noise in the room, which had become deafening.

"Do ya'll need some help?" the employee asked awkwardly. Hitsugaya removed his head from the sink and looked up at him.

"Do you know how to put on a diaper?" he asked hopefully. He knew he sounded pathetic, but at the moment, with his hair sopping wet from water and…something Hitsugaya didn't even want to think about…he really didn't care.

"Sure," the employee said with a shrug. "I change my kid brother all the time." He took a new diaper from the bag (the one Hitsugaya had been using more closely resembled a dead cat than a diaper) and deftly and expertly put it on in under a minute. Hitsugaya observed intently and even Karin paused in her laughing fit to watch. He then showed them the proper way to mix the baby formula, how to hold Hoshi as he ate, and how to burp him properly afterwards.

"So what'er you two doin' with a baby when you clearly don't know a thing about 'em?" he asked as he patted Hoshi on the back. "He ain't yours, is he?"

"Of course not!" Hitsugaya stated soundly. "He's my…ah…"

"Brother," Karin finished for him. "His mom sent them out to bond, but this one," she jabbed a thumb at Hitsugaya, "was too arrogant to ask for instructions first." She winked at Hitsugaya behind the employee's back. He scoffed.

"Alright," the employee shrugged, handing Hoshi back to Hitsugaya. "Just don't forget to pay fer all them stuff you got in that cart." Hitsugaya thanked him profusely for his help, then went to the register to pay. His wallet was significantly lighter, his budget for this mission not being nearly large enough so had had to pay for a good portion of it with his own money, but he was feeling a little more confident on the caring for a baby front.

"That guy was really helpful," he said as they trundled back through the snow towards Karin's house with their purchases.

"Yeah, so you learned how to take care of a baby from some minimum wage hick employee at the local pharmacy. You must be so proud." Hitsugaya scowled. His hair was still wet and he could feel it start to freeze to his scalp, but Hoshi seemed to be comfortably warm in his new snowsuit and was looking up at Hitsugaya with his chocolate brown eyes.

"You just might be more trouble than you're worth, you know that?" he said affectionately to the bunny in his arms. Hoshi simply blinked.

**I apologize profusely to everyone who really wanted an Urahara moment in this chapter. Don't worry, it will happen eventually, but the point of him in this chapter is to show Karin's sweet talking skills, which will be important later. Hopefully the postponement of an Urahara/baby scene gives you something to look forward to rather than turning you off (fingers crossed).**


	5. Shogi, Shouting, and Sleeping

**I'll admit right now that this is a linker chapter. Not a whole lot of plot happens, but it's all stuff I just couldn't leave out if I wanted the story to make any sense. So I hope you enjoy it anyway (I did my best to make it entertaining) and look forward to the **_**next**_** chapter where something actually happens.**

"I'm home!" Karin announced, dropping her load of shopping bags in the hallway and ripping her hat off her head. Hitsugaya was equally burdened and he again cursed his gigai; he wouldn't have found this stuff remotely heavy in his real body.

"Moving in?" Ichigo asked incredulously, eyeing the rather enormous pile of shopping bags. "What did you guys buy, a whole nursery?"

"Babies need a lot of stuff Ichi-nii," Karin said annoyed. "But wow, carrying all that sure helped fight off the cold. I think I'm sweating." She pulled off her coat, hat, scarf, and boots. Hitsugaya did the same, although with a bit of difficulty owing to the presence of Hoshi.

"Where's oyaji?" Karin asked with mild interest. "He hasn't come to greet us yet. Not that I'm complaining."

"Clinic," Ichigo answered. "The flu, frostbite, twisted ankles from slipping on ice, some idiots got hypothermia by trying to ice skate on the river and falling in. You know, the usual winter injuries." Karin shrugged.

"At least he's out of our hair. Come on Toushiro, let's get this stuff upstairs." They picked up their shopping bags, with no help from Ichigo, and lugged them up the stairs.

"Sorry the place is such a mess," Karin apologized, pushing the door open, "but with Yuzu out of town, all motivation to clean just kind of disappeared." Hitsugaya entered the room and felt like he had just stepped into a bad remake of the twilight zone. The room had such a clear division down the middle that it might as well have had a big black line drawn right across it. The right side, as Karin had forewarned, was kind of a pigsty. Clothing and sporting equipment were scattered haphazardly on the floor. There were some dilapidated posters of soccer players on the walls, a random collection of trophies, and a desk that was so stacked with books it was impossible to see the surface. Hitsugaya was reminded forcefully of his own desk and he wondered just how much paperwork Matsumoto had managed to avoid today. He instantly suppressed the thought. It made him nauseous.

The other side of the room was, for lack of a better term, pink. Pink rug, pink bedspread, pink desk chair. The pictures on the wall were of flowers and mermaids and, instead of books, every surface was covered with a collection of stuffed animals that would have put Noah's Ark to shame.

"Whose room is this?" Hitsugaya asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"Mine and Yuzu's," Karin responded distractedly. Her finger was pressed to her lips, as if she was contemplating something. "Well, I guess Hoshi can sleep in that basket. I'm sure the stuffed animals won't mind if we move them somewhere else and it should be relatively comfortable. And we can store all the other stuff…"

"Wait," Hitsugaya cut her off. "Didn't you say I was sleeping in Yuzu's bed?"

"Yeah. She's not here, she won't mind."

"But," Hitsugaya protested, "isn't this _your_ room?" Karin didn't seem to understand.

"Your point being?" she asked. Hitsugaya shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, is it really ok? Us…um…sharing a room?" Karin finally realized what was bothering him and she burst out laughing.

"Aw, that's so cute!" she said in a false squeal. "Innocent little Toushiro doesn't want to share a room with a girl." Hitsugaya turned beet red.

"Do _not_ call me 'little Toushiro!'" he snapped. "It's Hitsugaya taicho! And I just…want to make sure that you're comfortable…with this." Well, at least, that was the gentlemanly thing to say. But the fact was, it was himself he was worried about. Sure, he had slept in the same room with girls before. He had Hinamori had shared a room for years when they were kids. And just recently, he and Matsumoto had shared Inoue's apartment. But for some reason, the thought of sharing a room with Karin made him nervous in a way that he hadn't felt with either of the other two.

Karin glared at him.

"Toushiro, it was _my_ suggestion, remember? You shouldn't have to be relegated to the couch or Ichi-nii's closet. Plus, I've slept in the same room with boys dozens of times. You met my friends. Besides, I trust you. Like I said, you already have one baby. You don't need another." Hitsugaya had the same reaction this time as he did when she first said it.

"Well, alright than," he scoffed, turning away from her in a vain attempt to hide his red face.

They unpacked their new purchases and Karin decided that she was hungry. While she went downstairs to see what she could scrounge up from the kitchen, Hitsugaya changed Hoshi (with much more success this time), and settled him down in the basket Karin had pointed out. It did fit him rather well, and he seemed to like it. At least, he stopped crying and fell asleep when Hitsugaya put him in it, which was about as much of a statement of approval as Hitsugaya could hope for.

"I hope you like turkey," Karin said, holding up a plate of sandwiches and closing the door behind her. "It's all we've got without me cooking something, and trust me, you do _not_ want that. Unless you like poison."

"Turkey's fine," Hitsugaya replied. They sat in silence on the floor, munching their food, and for the first time since arriving, Hitsugaya felt slightly awkward to be in her presence.

"Now what?" he wondered. It occurred to him that he was stuck in this house with Karin for the next who knows how long, and he didn't really know all that much about her. He had no idea what to say to start a conversation. Luckily, Karin didn't seem to have that problem.

"Want to play shogi?" she asked, downing the last of her sandwich.

"You play shogi!?" Hitsugaya tried to hide his excitement. He loved shogi, but unfortunately, he couldn't find anyone in Seireitei to play it with him. He didn't have much time to play games to begin with. That, coupled with his antisocial nature made it almost impossible for him to find a suitable shogi partner. And, even if he could find someone, it was unlikely that they would present much of a challenge. Hitsugaya was quite good at strategizing.

Karin grinned at him.

"I never knew you played anything," she teased, rummaging around in her closet for her shogi board. "I thought you were too uptight."

"Shut up," Hitsugaya grumbled. Karin laughed.

"I warn you," she challenged, producing the board and plopping it down between them. "I take my shogi games very seriously." Hitsugaya smirked.

"Give it your best shot."

Hitsugaya won of course. No one was better at battle tactics than the 10th squad taicho. But Karin put up a valiant effort.

"Damn you!" she cursed. "How did you beat me?"

"Sheer talent," Hitsugaya bragged, clearing the board and setting up for another game.

"You know, no one has ever beaten me at shogi before," she told him, grabbing a handful of tiles and helping him set up the second round. "Oyaji's actually come close a few times, but I'm the champ."

"No you're not," Hitsugaya pointed out. "I just beat you." Karin scoffed.

"Oh, don't get me wrong," Hitsugaya continued. "You put up quite the fight. Seriously, I'm actually impressed." He tried to make his voice sound less sarcastic to let her know that he was actually giving her a compliment, and she seemed to understand. "But you'll never beat me."

"Is that a threat?" Karin asked wryly.

"More like a challenge," Hitsugaya replied.

"Bring it!" They played two more games, interspersed with temporary breaks to feed and change Hoshi when he cried. Hitsugaya knew he shouldn't be enjoying himself so much on a top secret mission, but he just couldn't help it. He hadn't played shogi in years.

They were about to start their fourth game when they were interrupted by the oh so dulcet tones of Karin's father.

"Oh, my lovely Karin-chan," he exclaimed, flinging the door open and launching himself at her for a bear hug. "I have come to announce that dinner is ready…" POW.

"Don't you _knock_!?" Karin yelled as she removed her fist from his face. "Seriously, who do you think you are, barging into a girl's room like that? What if I was changing?" Isshin, who had been suspended in midair as he threw himself at his daughter, lost his momentum and crashed to the ground. He pouted.

"Oh, how sad! My daughter is growing up so fast, and…oh!" he exclaimed, brightening up instantly as he saw Hitsugaya. "And who is this handsome young man?"

"This is Hitsugaya Toushiro," Karin introduced. "He and his baby brother just lost their house and they needed a place to stay, so I invited them here." Hitsugaya was impressed at how casually she made up that lie. Then he remembered how she had sweet talked Urahara before. This girl was seriously an expert at manipulating her words.

"Oh, how horribly awful!" Isshin cried dramatically, leaping off the floor. "Welcome to the family, my new sons!" He wrung Hitsugaya's hand and shook it so fast, Hitsugaya could feel his whole body vibrate.

"And what a cute baby," Isshin gushed, looking into the basket that Hoshi was currently sleeping in. "What's the little angel's name?"

"Um, Hoshi," Hitsugaya replied awkwardly, still recovering from being shaken so violently. He was slightly concerned for this man's sanity.

"Awww, what an _adorable_ name!" he cooed, wagging his butt in the air as if hoping a tail would appear to emphasize the effect. "I wish I had thought of that!"

"God I'm glad you didn't," Ichigo grumbled, appearing in the hallway looking bored. Hitsugaya shot him an icy glare.

"Oh please, Ichii-nii," Karin groaned, rolling her eyes. "Like being named after a fruit is much better."

"I'm _not_ named after a…"

"Can I hold him?" Isshin begged. "Please? Pretty please with sugar on top!"

"I don't think that's a very good idea," Karin butted in before Hitsugaya could respond. "You might strangle him."

"Oh, but I'm very good with children," Isshin declared proudly.

"Yeah, and look how great we turned out," Karin said sarcastically.

"Oh Masaki!" Isshin continued, clasping his hands together and making goggly eyes off into space. "I have another addition to our family! Oh how it's grown! We now have two more sons! Isn't it beautiful?!"

"What did I tell you?" Karin said to Ichigo. "Instant acceptance."

ooooooooooooo

Dinner was an awkward affair to say the least. Apparently, Isshin had attempted cooking, but finally abandoned his pursuit when he coated the kitchen with a sticky blue liquid.

"What the hell were you making that turned blue?!" Karin shouted so loudly that she woke up Hoshi.

"Aw, Karin look," Isshin said affectionately. "The baby's crying."

"There's nothing cute about a screaming baby!" Karin scowled, reluctantly forfeiting hitting him in exchange for helping Hitsugaya. "Seriously, what kind of father are you?"

They ordered take out, but it took so long for the delivery man to get there in the snow that by the time the food arrived, it was practically iced over. Munching on partially frozen ramen, Hitsugaya watched with apprehension as the Kurosaki family interacted. Three times during the meal, Isshin and Ichigo broke away from the table to have an all out fist fight, which Karin intentionally ignored. Isshin cried his eyes out over missing Yuzu, but proclaimed that it was alright, since he had added two more sons to fill the void, a statement which earned him a punch in the face from Karin.

"So this random kid you just met is more important to you than your daughter!?" she snarled.

"Ah, no no no Karin, you misunderstand," Isshin defended. "Hitsugaya-kun hasn't taken Yuzu's place. But an addition to the family can help brighten us up."

"He's not an addition to the family," Karin grumbled. "Just a friend who's staying for a while."

"Oh," Isshin replied knowingly. "But he will be an addition to the family when you two get married." He winked at Karin who promptly put a fist in the offending eye.

"Don't say ridiculous things!" she shouted as Hitsugaya attempted to hide his blush from Ichigo, who was glaring at him in a not-so-friendly way. He didn't think of Karin that way at all! At least, he was pretty sure he didn't. No, she was just a friend who was helping him out of a rather tight spot. That was all. Right?

"Uch, I can't deal with this anymore!" Karin declared. "Let's go Toushiro." She grabbed him by the collar and yanked him out of his chair, pausing only long enough for him to scoop up Hoshi before dragging him up the stairs. Hitsugaya was very grateful for the excuse to get away from Isshin, who he was worried had more than one screw loose, so, although it was mildly demeaning to be forcibly moved that way, he allowed it.

"Goodnight lovebirds!" Isshin called back at them. Karin threw a vase at him.

"Honestly," she yelled in frustration, slamming the door behind her. "That man! Every time I bring a friend home, oyaji is convinced I'm going to marry him the next day. It's like he wants to get rid of me or something."

"I'm sure he just wants you to be happy," Hitsugaya offered. "Isn't that what parents want for their children?" Karin glared at him.

"Oh because you know so much about parenting," she ridiculed.

"Shut up!" Hitsugaya retorted. Karin grinned.

"Speaking of parenting, let's get Hoshi to bed. It's late."

They gave Hoshi a bath in the kitchen sink, which turned out to be quite a wet activity.

"Who's getting a bath, us or the baby?" Hitsugaya asked annoyed after Karin sprayed him with water for the hundredth time.

"Hey, it's hard to control this thing," she defended, indicating the snake-like hose she was using. "But if you'd like to take your clothes off and climb in the sink, I could give you a bath too." Hitsugaya turned as red as a radish. Karin snickered and sprayed him with the hose on purpose.

Once they were sufficiently dry, they returned to Karin's room to get ready for bed. Despite assuring himself that there was no difference between sharing a room with Karin and sharing a room with Matsumoto or Hinamori, Hitsugaya was still incredibly nervous about the prospect. But, as it turned out, his anxiety was unfounded, as neither of them did very much sleeping. Hoshi cried so often during the night that, even though they took turns, they didn't get more than a few hours combined sleep.

"Don't babies ever sleep?" Hitsugaya grumbled at four AM as he crawled out of bed for the eighth time. Karin rolled over and jammed her pillow over her head.

"I can't believe I volunteered for this," she said in a muffled voice.

"You can quit if you want to," Hitsugaya told her apprehensively, picking up Hoshi and trying to shush him. He really didn't want Karin to leave, but this wasn't her problem. It was his. She technically had nothing to do with this.

"What kind of girl do you take me for?" Karin retorted, pulling her pillow off and whipping her head around to face him. "I'm not backing down. I made you a promise." Hitsugaya breathed a sigh of relief of her words. Now that he saw what taking care of a baby was really like, he had no desire whatsoever to do it on his own. But, for some reason, he found that he was grateful. And not just because he didn't want to care for Hoshi on his own, but also because Karin was going to stick with him, even for a bit. She was so different from Matsumoto, or any of the other people he usually dealt with. He really liked having her around.

They quickly fell into a routine. They both decided that bringing Hoshi into the ice kingdom outside was not a good idea, and that they would only do it when necessary. Besides, the more time he spent away from the public eye, the better. Hitsugaya refused to let the baby out of his sight, so he and Karin spent most of their days confined to her room, catching up on lost sleep and playing shogi. Karin was actually an incredible player, and although she still hadn't beaten Hitsugaya, he was having a harder time winning with every game they played. Hitsugaya felt relaxed and content for the first time since the Aizen fiasco began. He had even managed to push the war into the back of his mind and simply enjoy his time with Karin.

Until one night, just over a week into his stay, when Hitsugaya woke up to the smell of green.

"Damn it," he cursed. "This can't be happening."

**Yay, plot! I'm so excited that something is finally happening in this story. Yes, me, the author. This story kind of has a mind of its own and started to run away from me, so I'm doing my best to rein it in. This is proving to be much harder to write than I thought it would be, so please forgive me if you don't find it as good as you expected. I'm doing my best, but so far, I don't like it nearly as much as some of my other stories. I'll try to make it more exciting in the future, especially now that something interesting is happening (yes, you read that sentence right, he **_**is**_** smelling green. All will be explained.)**


	6. The Illusionist

**Wow. This story has over 100 reviews already! I never expected anything like that to happen, especially on a story that I don't like as much as some of my old ones. Thank you guys so so much! You have no idea how much this means to me (tears of joy). So this chapter is longer than it was going to be to thank you :) Enjoy!**

One night, just over a week into his stay, Hitsugaya woke up to the smell of green.

"Damn it," he cursed. "This can't be happening."

Hitsugaya opened his eyes and instantly regretted it. The world was spinning around him like a top, making him horribly nauseous. But he did his best to suppress the strange sensations. He had only one thought: Hoshi. Carefully, and ensuring that both of his feet were actually hitting the ground, he got out of bed and groped his way across the room, which was becoming longer with every step he took.

"He's so young," Hitsugaya thought as his steps became heavier. It felt like his whole body was made of lead. "But I suppose with parents like his, it's not entirely surprising. Still…" His train of thought was cut off as the ceiling above him began to wriggle like a bed of snakes and orange colored water rained down on him.

"Just breathe," he ordered himself, flaring his reiatsu to protect himself as best he could from the onslaught. Ordinarily, he would have been able to resist this, at least partially, but the kido barrier he had placed around himself to hide his presence wasn't helping his reiatsu control.

Finally, soaked to the skin and very close to vomiting, Hitsugaya reached Hoshi's basket. The baby was sleeping soundly, despite the unusual circumstances in the room.

"Hoshi," Hitsugaya called, lifting him into his arms. "Hoshi, wake up. Please." Hoshi squirmed at the movement and opened his eyes.

"Thank god…" Hitsugaya began, but as he stared into Hoshi's deep brown eyes, he realized something; the room hadn't stopped spinning.

"But…he's awake…" At that point, Hoshi started to cry and Hitsugaya heard something move in the direction of Karin's bed. Suddenly, everything stopped. The room returned to normal, the ceiling ceased its movement, the orange rain receded, and the excess weight in Hitsugaya's body was lifted.

"It's my turn, isn't it?" she grumbled. She sat up, rubbing her face, and looked over at Hitsugaya who was gaping at her like he had never seen her before.

"Toushiro?" she said groggily, still not fully awake. "Why are you looking at me like that? And why are you soaking wet?"

"Karin," Hitsugaya gasped, still in awe himself. "You're an illusionist."

"I'm a what?" she asked. "Am I still dreaming?"

"No, and I'm very grateful you're not." She glared at him.

"Are you going to tell me what an illusionist is, or do I have to guess? Because, as far as I'm aware, I can't do magic tricks to save my life. And how the hell did you get so soaked? And…wait…is your hair _orange_? What's going on?"

"Calm down!" Hitsugaya insisted. "Let me dry off and I'll explain everything. I think you're about to be very happy."

ooooooooooooooo

Ten minutes later, Karin and Hitsugaya, who had washed all the orange off and changed into something dry, sat on Karin's bed for a talk.

"An illusionist is a shinigami who is able to use a special kind of kido," Hitsugaya explained. "Normally, kido is used for destruction, binding, or barrier creation. Every shinigami can do those things. But every now and then, a rare kido master appears who is able to create illusions. And I don't just mean standard illusions that make something false look real. These illusions have actual consequences. If an illusionist creates fire, it burns. Illusionist's swords are actually sharp, their water is wet, their poison is deadly. In other words…"

"It can be used to kill people," Karin said gravely.

"Yes." Karin sighed. She had craved for power ever since she had started seeing hollows, but she had always pictured it to be something like Ichigo's, or maybe Chad's. She had never imagined this. She wasn't exactly sure what it meant.

"Illusionists perform their illusions by confusing the five senses," Hitsugaya continued. "They can make you experience things that are otherwise impossible; smelling colors for example. That's why I got wet but the room didn't. The rain didn't actually exist, but my brain was so convinced it did, that water was attracted to me. If you had been dreaming about a fire instead of a rainstorm, my skin would have spontaneously combusted." Karin shuttered.

"So where did this power come from?" she asked, slightly afraid of the fact that she had this latent ability that she already couldn't control. "And why did I get it now?"

"You can't train to become an illusionist," Hitsugaya replied. "It's something you're born with. I've never heard of a human becoming one, but I guess your family isn't exactly normal. As for why these powers chose this time to appear, I think that has to do with Hoshi."

"Hoshi?"

"His mother is an illusionist," Hitsugaya told her. "One of the best." Hitsugaya had never told that to anyone. It was technically a secret between him and Hinamori. She had discovered the ability during her third year as a shinigami, and had come to him, then just an Academy student, begging for help. It had been a rather scary time for them as they figured out how to bring the power under control. Hinamori was petrified of the ability, and she used it as little as possible. What he didn't say aloud was that Aizen, although not an actual illusionist, also had the ability to create illusions due to his zanpakto. Hitsugaya already knew that Hoshi would be an incredibly strong kido master when he grew up, if not an illusionist himself. His reiatsu was guided that way. But, it was no wonder that Hoshi, with a reiatsu that screamed illusionist, had activated Karin's latent powers.

"I'm almost positive that Hoshi is an illusionist, based on his reiatsu," Hitsugaya added. "When I first felt the effects of the illusion, I was convinced that it was him creating them, despite his age. I assume that your recent contact with him caused a spark in your reiatsu that has been hidden until now. It wasn't awakened due to contact with your brother because he has no kido ability to speak of, so his reiatsu doesn't resonate well with yours. Hoshi, on the other hand, has abilities similar to you, so he was able to force your powers to surface." Karin pondered all this newfound information. She was still scared, but as she thought about it, she was growing more and more excited.

"Does this mean I'll be able to fight in the war?" she asked hopefully.

"It's possible," Hitsugaya replied. "But before that, you need to learn how to control it. Tonight, you created an illusion without meaning to. Luckily, I just ended up wet, but next time, it could be a lot worse."

"But where am I going to learn how to do that?" she cried. "Who around here knows anything about illusions?"

"I sometimes think you forget who I am," Hitsugaya said in irritation. "I'm a taicho, remember? I don't just know what an illusionist is, I also know how to train one. It'll be hard, but I think you can handle it. Are you prepared?"

"Of course," Karin replied with determination.

They didn't go back to sleep. Karin was afraid to dream again, and Hitsugaya didn't blame her.

"The first thing you need to do is learn how to create an illusion at will," Hitsugaya told her. "That will reign in your powers so that you have more control over them. Until you can do that, the illusions will have a mind of their own and you'll create them when you least expect it. Tonight you manifested parts of your dream into an actual illusion. But dreams are unpredictable, so it's vitally important that you learn to repress your powers when you don't want them, and activate them only when you want to. Otherwise, you can put everyone around you in danger."

"What do I do if that happens?" Karin asked, trying not to show her fear. What if she did something horrible to her family by accident?

"Don't worry," Hitsugaya assured her. "I know how to suppress illusions. If worse comes to worse, I can release my kido barrier and stop you. Although, I'd rather it didn't get to that point."

"Then that just means I have to master this quickly." Hitsugaya nodded.

"Alright," she said excitedly. "Let's do this! How do I create an illusion?" Hitsugaya smirked. He was glad she was so enthusiastic about this.

"Let's start with something simple," he suggested. He looked around the room and spotted a scented candle sitting on one of Yuzu's shelves. "Try lighting that candle." Karin closed her eyes and concentrated. She pictured the candle and, in her mind's eye, saw it lit. She tried to imagine all the sensations that would create, the light, the warmth, the smell of burning wax. She opened her eyes to check her progress. Nothing. She scoffed.

"Is something wrong?" Hitsugaya asked causally. She glared at him.

"Yeah," she spat. "You haven't told me how to make a stupid illusion."

"So what are you doing?" She told him about picturing the candle.

"Who exactly are you trying to illude?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"Remember," Hitsugaya explained. "You are creating an illusion. You aren't actually creating fire. Even if it rages out of control, nothing will get burned except the people who are around to experience it." Something clicked inside Karin's brain.

"I'm not illuding the candle," she realized. "I'm illuding you."

"Exactly!" Hitsugaya said with pride. It took Hinamori much longer to figure that out. "In order to create an illusion, you can't just simply imagine what it is you would like to have happen. You obviously need to focus on the outcome, but at the same time, direct your reiatsu at whoever it is you are trying to illude. Right now, that is just me, but you can illude hundreds of people at the same time once you gain more experience." Karin closed her eyes again, but this time, in addition to thinking about the candle, she also thought about Hitsugaya. She had never really practiced reiatsu manipulation before, and she found it to be incredibly difficult. Sweat began to pour down her face and her breathing rate increased. Hitsugaya waited patiently. This first step was the most important. Once she learned how to do something small, everything else would come. He didn't expect her to get it right away, but if they spent the next few days practicing, then maybe…

"I did it!" Hitsugaya was ripped out of his revere and looked up at Karin's triumphant face. She was pointing eagerly at the candle.

"Look, look! I did it!" Hitsugaya glanced at the candle, and indeed, there was a steady flame burning there. He approached it and waved his hand over the top. It was hot.

"Incredible," he marveled. "We've only been at it for an hour." It took Hinamori a week of diligent practicing to do that.

"Karin really may master this," he thought to himself. "What raw talent the Kurosakis have."

He heard a crash behind him and the candle blew out. He whipped around in a panic, and saw that Karin had crumpled to the floor.

"Karin!" he gasped with concern, rushing to her side. "Are you alr…" He stopped as he saw her face.

"She just fell asleep," he said with relief. "I guess it's natural that she's exhausted. Creating illusions takes a lot of reiatsu." He lifted her into his arms and carried her to her bed, where he laid her down and tucked the sheets around her.

"She's kind of cute when she sleeps," he thought, then suddenly realized what he was thinking and mentally slapped himself.

"Dang, I'm getting soft," he reprimanded. "Is this what a few days without paperwork does to me?" He turned off the light and climbed into bed, hoping to get a little sleep before Hoshi woke up again.

"Still, I can't believe Karin is an illusionist," he thought as he drifted off to sleep. "She's one heck of a girl."

ooooooooooooooooo

The next morning after breakfast, Karin and Hitsugaya locked themselves in Karin's room, but instead of pulling out the shogi board, Hitsugaya placed a kido barrier around the room.

"What's that for?" Karin asked curiously.

"Just in case," he replied. "With your family around, it can't hurt to be too careful." Karin nodded.

"So tell me more about illusions," she asked eagerly. All her fear from the night before had evaporated to be replaced by sheer exhilaration. She was gaining a power and she was going to be able to fight. She wouldn't have to rely on her brother or the other shinigami anymore. This time, she was going to stand beside them.

"Illusions can take many forms," Hitsugaya began. "You can change the surroundings to anything you want, make something appear or disappear, alter a person's perception of reality, or simply debilitate someone by making them get lost in their own head. You can create weapons yourself, or team up with a partner and use the illusions to enhance their abilities. Illusions can get incredibly complicated, and the more creative you are with them, the better. But you need to build up to things. The more complex the illusion, the more reiatsu it takes and the more difficult it becomes to control. Also, the strength of the illusion varies based on who you are trying to illude. Fighting hollows with illusion doesn't take much effort, but to illude someone like me, who has taicho level reiatsu, you're going to have to work a lot harder."

"Sounds interesting," Karin said greedily, rubbing her hands together. "Let's do this."

And so, her rigorous training began. Karin was diligent and determined and stubborn and she focused all her efforts into learning how to properly create and control her illusions. Hitsugaya turned out to be a masterful teacher. He helped her grade her illusions so that they became progressively more intricate, but he didn't hold her hand the whole way through. He still left plenty of room for self discovery.

"He's so awesome," Karin thought one day a few weeks later as she watched him try to escape from a prison cell she had created around him.

"Ok, joke's over!" he growled, pounding on the bars. "Let me out!" Karin laughed.

"I thought you said you could negate illusions," she taunted. Hitsugaya scoffed.

"I thought I could too. Yours are too strong." He wasn't lying. In the few weeks they had been training, Karin's ability had grown exponentially. Her illusions were much more powerful than Hinamori's had been when he had trained her. With his kido barrier in place, he didn't have a hope of negating anything.

"I'll make you a deal," Karin teased. "I'll let you out if you take double shifts with Hoshi tonight."

"Hey!" Hitsugaya protested. "You wouldn't have been able to trap me in here at all if I hadn't trained you. Don't you think you at least owe me something?" Karin pondered that.

"Nope!" she exclaimed. Hitsugaya scowled.

"Well, what if I just stopped training you," he threatened.

"Oh, you would never do that," Karin assured him. "You love me too much." Hitsugaya felt his face turn red. Karin laughed.

"Oh relax, it was just a joke Toushiro," she chuckled, finally lifting the illusion and releasing him from his cage. But Karin knew in her heart that it wasn't a joke. And so did Hitsugaya. He knew that his affection for Karin had magnified, despite his best efforts. But what he didn't know, was that she had started to have similar feelings towards him. Somehow, the bonding created through training and caring for Hoshi had drawn them together, although neither of them was willing to actually admit it. There was awkward silence for a moment, and Karin felt horribly guilty that she had brought up the subject at all.

"He's a shinigami," she thought to herself. "Even if he does like me, he's not going to do anything about it."

"So what's next?" she asked aloud, hoping lighten the uncomfortable atmosphere she had created. "I know, let's try that scenery change thing again."

"Ok," Hitsugaya agreed, but he wasn't really listening. He was still trying to bring his heart rate back to normal.

"I'm a shinigami," he thought. "I shouldn't feel this way about her." He took a deep breath and pushed his emotions to the back of his mind to brace himself for the trip to Mars that Karin was about to send him on.

**I usually try to avoid giving Karin powers, unless she's dead and is a shinigami, but I felt like she needed them in this story. But here, she's not a shinigami. She doesn't have a zanpakto or anything, she can just use this rare illusionist ability. I hope I explained it well enough, but if you still have questions about how it works, please ask, since you probably won't be the only one who's confused.**


	7. Smiles and Snowballs

**I'm glad you all like the idea of Karin being an illusionist. I don't really know where I got the idea, but it worked really well for the story, so I stuck with it. I re-wrote this chapter a few times, cut things, added things, and even thought about leaving it out, but eventually, I decided it's a really fun chapter that I wanted to have in here. Plus, some important stuff happens here, even if it's not obvious at first glance.**

"It's heavy," Karin groaned.

"It should be light as a feather to you," Hitsugaya replied in a bored voice. "Remember, it doesn't actually exist."

"Easy for you to say," Karin grumbled, staring at the dresser she was trying to lift. "I thought illusions couldn't manipulate the outside world."

"You're not manipulating it, you're just using it," Hitsugaya repeated for the tenth time. "The dresser _does_ exist, but you are simply creating a second one that you can lift, while at the same time, hiding the original. It not only gives you the appearance of inhuman strength, but also…"

"Turns my surroundings into a weapon without letting on that it's an illusion, I know, know," Karin finished for him. "But it's easier said than done."

"What are they doing in there?" came Ichigo's voice from the other side of the door. "They've been hulled up all day again."

"Oh, leave the lovebirds alone," Isshin replied. "Let young love foster and grow…"

"Put the dresser down Karin," Hitsugaya warned.

"Oh please, just this once…" she begged, an evil gleam twinkling in her eye as she edged towards the door with the illusioned dresser riding on her shoulder. "I'm going to hit them so hard…"

"I don't think it'll fit out the door," Hitsugaya pointed out. Karin paused. Slowly, an evil grin spread across her face.

"Why not?" she said thoughtfully. "It's just an illusion. I can make it shrink if I want to. Or I can make the door look wider so that it'll fit. There're plenty of ways to get it out of the room."

"Congratulations." Karin was so stunned by the sincerity in his voice that she dropped the dresser, which disappeared before it hit the floor, the illusion broken.

"Huh?" she asked confused. "Congratulations? For what?"

"You're finally starting to think like an illusionist," Hitsugaya replied, smiling ever so slightly.

"Ah! You did it!" Karin exclaimed.

"Did what?"

"You smiled!" she declared triumphantly.

"No I didn't!" Hitsugaya shot defensively. Karin smirked.

"Oh, maybe it was just an _illusion _then."

"Maybe," Hitsugaya grumbled. "Now less chatting, more training!"

"Oh, they do sound like they're having fun in there," Isshin said through the door.

"I forgot about them," Karin realized. She decided that reality was much more satisfying than illusions anyway, so she opened the door and shoved her foot into her father's mouth.

"GO AWAY!" she screamed as a toothless Isshin scampered off down the hall. Hitsugaya was very glad that Karin's back was to him. He knew he was smiling again. Karin slammed the door shut.

"God, they annoy me," she groaned. "They're so…wait…you're still smiling!"

"I am not!" Hitsugaya retorted. Well, he definitely wasn't _now_.

"I swear, you smile less than Hoshi," she chided. "But he has an excuse at least. Babies aren't supposed to smile for the first month or two, but you, you're just bitter."

"I am not bitter," he snapped, then realized how bitter that sounded. Karin snickered.

"I wonder when Hoshi will smile for the first time?" she said affectionately, looking at his sleeping form. "It's supposed to be one of the most special moments in a parent's life."

"Do you feel like his mother?" Hitsugaya asked. Karin blushed.

"No…I mean…well, yeah, kind of. I just feel like I've connected to him, you know. Since I've spent so much time with him and done so much for him. I'm really going to miss him when he's gone. I quite like the little bugger."

"Karin, do you think…" He paused. "Never mind."

"Do I think what?" she prompted.

_Do you think you'll miss me?_ The question rang in his head, but he didn't have the courage to ask it. Why did he even care? Instead, he made something up.

"Do you think you could fight to protect him?" It was the first thing he could think of, but he instantly regretted it.

"Wait, sorry," he apologized quickly. "Don't answer that. I…"

"Of course idiot," Karin cut him off. "Why do you think I'm training so hard?" Hitsugaya stared at her in disbelief.

"But…it's not your fight," he protested. "He's technically my charge and my responsibility. You don't have to risk your neck for him." Karin chuckled.

"Then you clearly don't know me very well. I've sat on the sidelines long enough, watching the hollows and feeling like I couldn't do anything. I hated that, you know; feeling helpless. A soccer ball and a killer kick only go so far. But now, I have this real ability that I can actually use to fight. I've got a weapon now. And it's thanks to Hoshi really. Even though he's just an infant, I owe him so much. So, I'll protect him. Not because I have to, but because I want to. Isn't that enough?" Hitsugaya gaped at her. It was easy to forget, since they spent so much time locked in her room creating illusions, how much strength of will she had when it came to reality.

"Yeah," he said with a smirk. "That's enough. But if you want to protect him, you've got to get even stronger. You're not there yet."

"Thanks for the encouragement," Karin said sarcastically. Hitsugaya almost smiled again.

"So what about you?" she asked. "Why do you want to protect him so badly?" She paused. "He's _not_ your kid, is he?" Hitsugaya glared at her.

"No." He looked over at the basket and sighed. Hoshi had just woken up and staring at them with those eyes that so closely resembled his mothers'.

"I owe it to his mother," Hitsugaya replied before he could stop himself. "I…couldn't protect her from Aizen. So instead, I'll protect her son." Karin had never seen that look in his eyes before. They were distant, like he was gazing deeply into his own soul. Like he had some powerful regret that he could never overcome. Suddenly, his eyes changed from lost to fierce.

"I'll get him someday," he growled, as if continuing aloud a conversation he had been having in his head. "I'll take revenge for everything he's done."

"Aizen?" Hitsugaya suddenly seemed to remember that she was in the room.

"Sorry," he mumbled, clearly embarrassed.

"That's ok. He did horrible things. It's right to feel that way." Hitsugaya glanced at Hoshi again.

"You don't know the half of it," he thought.

ooooooooooooooooo

"Yuzu's coming back tomorrow," Karin announced as she handed Hitsugaya a fresh diaper. "And school starts the day after."

"Oh?" Hitsugaya replied nonchalantly. That struck a nerve.

"Oh?!" Karin shot back. "That's all? I thought you'd be more…"

"More what?"

"I don't know, surprised I guess." Hitsugaya didn't reply. Surprised was putting it mildly. He had forgotten about the fact that Karin was just a normal human kid who had to go to school. She seemed so mature, in a twisted sort of way. But the truth was, he had become quite accustomed to her company. He was more upset than he thought he would be at the realization that she wouldn't be around during the day anymore.

"Well, it's not like you're really going anywhere," he said with a shrug, trying his best to seem casual. "Besides, you still have a lot of training to do. Don't think you're getting out of it so easily."

"Are you crazy?" Karin said incredulously. "I'd so much rather train than sit in boring school all day. Being an illusionist is fun."

"It's not about fun," Hitsugaya said seriously. "Illusion is your weapon. It's not a game." Karin rolled her eyes.

"Oh please, like you don't enjoy sword fighting. You wouldn't have gotten to be where you are if you didn't."

"I don't think about it as enjoyment," Hitsugaya replied coolly. "It's training to get stronger."

"You're such a spoil sport," Karin teased. "If you don't have fun sometimes, you'll go dull." Hitsugaya scoffed.

"Karin!" came Ichigo's voice from downstairs. "You've got visitors!"

"I do?" Karin asked curiously. "Who…?" But her question was answered for her as the door burst open and four boys rushed into the room. Hitsugaya recognized them as the boys who Karin had played soccer with.

"Kurosaki!" they cried happily.

"Where have you been all this time?"

"Yeah, we haven't seen you all of winter break."

"Sorry guys," she apologized. "Something came up." She pointed at Hitsugaya.

"Toushiro!" the boys gasped in unison.

"Yeah, he's been staying here with his little brother," Karin explained. Hitsugaya suddenly found himself swarmed with rabid fans.

"How've you been Toushiro?"

"Aw, what a cute baby!"

"Why aren't you at home?"

"Oi, stop asking him so many questions!" Karin reprimanded. "You're making him nervous." She grinned at Hitsugaya, who thanked her with his eyes. "Come on guys, it's snowing out. Let's go have a proper snowball fight!"

"Yeah!" they agreed enthusiastically, stumbling over each other in their hurry to get outside. Karin chuckled.

"Sorry about them," she said. "They're good guys, but a little wild sometimes." She grabbed her coat, boots, scarf, and hat from the closet.

"So," she prompted. "Are you coming?"

"I don't play in the snow," Hitsugaya stated soundly. "It's my weapon. It's not a toy." Karin rolled her eyes.

"What was I just telling you about having fun?" she teased. "Come on, we'll have a good time."

"You go," Hitsugaya replied, turning away from her. "I don't want to leave Hoshi alone." Karin looked at him with pity.

"Ok," she caved. "But you're welcome to join us whenever." Hitsugaya waved her off.

"What's wrong with him?" Karin wondered sadly as she met her friends outside and began to gather ammo. "I just don't get him. Sometimes he's so stiff and stubborn, but I know he has a heart in there somewhere. Heck, just look at the way he looks at Hoshi. Like he's his own kid or something. I wish he'd soften up a little." Karin was so lost in thought that she didn't notice the snowball until it was too late.

"Why are you so distracted!" her friend yelled as she wiped snow out of her ear. "Hey, wait, don't look at me that way!" he panicked before Karin attacked him and shoved snow down his shirt.

"Ha score one for me!" she declared. She decided she would worry about Hitsugaya later. Right now, she was going to take her own advice and have some fun.

ooooooooooooooo

Hitsugaya looked out the window of Karin's room at the furiously raging snowball fight and sighed. What he had said was true; he couldn't imagine ice and snow as something to be played with. And he didn't want to go outside and leave Hoshi alone. But as he watched Karin take on all four of her friends at once, he couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness. She would be leaving soon and going back to her old life. Once Yuzu was around, the task of mothering would surely be passed on to her, and Karin would return to the world of school and sports. He knew she would still want to train as an illusionist, but he would lose those precious moments that they had shared while fussing over Hoshi. Whether it was changing his diaper, feeding him, or bathing him, Hitsugaya had come to treasure those times.

"I wonder if that's what parenting is supposed to feel like," he said to himself. But he knew that his enjoyment of those moments wasn't only because of Hoshi. He felt it was Karin who he had truly grown fond of over the past six weeks. He shook his head.

"I shouldn't be having these feelings!" he reprimanded himself. "They are unnecessary! She's a human!" But he couldn't help feeling that she had become much more than just a friend to him. He was going to miss her terribly when he returned to Soul Society.

"What about you?" he asked Hoshi, who was playing with his toes. "Do you think you'll miss her?" Hoshi looked up at Hitsugaya and smiled. Hitsugaya gasped. Karin had been right. It was one of the most incredible things he had ever seen. It almost made his heart melt. Before he could think, he hurried to the window and forced it open.

"Karin!" he called. Karin paused in the middle of throwing three snowballs at once (how she was doing it he wasn't quite sure, but he was almost convinced that it was an illusion) to turn and face him.

"Yeah?" she called back.

"Hoshi did it!" he said, trying not to sound as excited as he was. "He smiled!"

"What?!" she squealed as her face lit up. "I'll be right there! Sorry boys."

"Karin, what's going on?" one of her friends tried to stop her, but she wasn't listening. She dashed into the house, ripped off her snow-covered winter wear and ran up the stairs.

"Let me see!" she demanded. Hitsugaya was holding Hoshi, trying to coax him into smiling again. Karin joined him.

"Come on Hoshi-kun," Karin prompted. "Smile for me. Please." Karin's friends appeared in the doorway and took in the strange sight. Both Hitsugaya and Karin were staring at the baby in Hitsugaya's arms with incredibly tender expressions on their faces.

"They look like new parents don't they?" one of the boys whispered. Karin shot him a death glare.

"Shut up!" she insisted.

"Karin!" Hitsugaya said eagerly and she jerked her head back to Hoshi just in time to see the playful grin on his face.

"Oh my god, he did it!" she said with glee, a very un-Karin expression of joy on her face.

"What's wrong with her?" one of her friends wondered aloud.

"Hey you two," another began. "Are you sure that's not your kid? 'Cause you guys really look like you…ow!" The pillow Karin had thrown at him fell to the floor.

"No more crude suggestions!" she ordered. "This is a special moment." The boys looked at each other warily.

"When did Kurosaki get so soft?" one asked. Karin's eye twitched.

"Oh I'm soft am I?" she said menacingly, curling her hand into a fist, and the three boys ran for their lives before she could unleash her wrath.

**I know not a whole lot happens here, but I just really wanted to write these scenes. Plus, they are much more important than they may appear at first glance, so they're not entirely filler. The excitement is going to really pick up next chapter, so look forward to it :)**


	8. Darkness

**Sorry this chapter is a little short, but I hope the content makes up for it. I've been looking forward to this chapter the whole story, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do :)**

An unusual phenomenon settled around the Kurosaki home that night. It was one of those nights where the darkness feels so thick, you have difficulty moving around in it. Where the air seems just a bit harder to breathe, and the blood in your veins must exert that much more effort to supply your body with desperately needed oxygen. The kind of night where you actually feel like you can reach out your hand and scoop up a pile of the rich blackness, allowing it to sift through your fingers like sand on a long forgotten beach. Where the silence is so deadly, you feel like your voice box has actually been ripped out of your throat and making a single sound is beyond your abilities. It was a moonless night and the dark storm clouds had blotted out even the stars. The gentle snowfall from earlier had magnified into a raging blizzard, and that, Hitsugaya assumed, was the cause of the heavy atmosphere. He couldn't sleep. The night was suffocating him. There was something ominous, something foreboding about it, and Hitsugaya didn't like it.

He turned his head to glance in the direction of Karin's bed. Not that he could see it. Heck, he couldn't see his own hand even if he placed it inches away from his face. But if he strained his ears beyond the silent ringing of the darkness, he could just make out the sound of rustling bed sheets. So she couldn't sleep either.

"Karin," he whispered, and the tiny noise echoed horribly in the solid shadow that filled the room. "Are you doing this?"

"You feel it too?" came a voice that sounded much farther away than it should have. "It's like the night is…"

"Dense?" Hitsugaya supplied.

"Yeah," Karin agreed. "But no, it's not me. Why, are you scared of the dark?"

"No," Hitsugaya shot back. The sound of familiar voices seemed to ease the tension of the blackness. Hitsugaya heard Karin's bed creak, then her soft footsteps on the floor, and finally, the window shades were pulled back. It wasn't much brighter outside than it was inside, but the dim reflection off the snow cast a very faint tinge around her, allowing him to just barely make out her silhouette. He didn't know what is was, but something about the darkness was calling him to her. He felt like the night itself was drawing them together. His need to be physically near her had never been greater. Not knowing how to fight the feeling, and not entirely sure he wanted to, he climbed out of bed and joined her at the window. The snow was coming down in an opaque sheet. It was impossible to see anything beyond it. The dearth of light was almost unnatural. The wind blew furiously, creating turbulence in the baseball sized flakes, and hammering against the window making it rattle and whistle.

"I can't believe all this snow," Karin commented. It was strange. Hitsugaya knew she was standing right next to him, but because he couldn't see her, she felt like a disembodied voice. The thought made him want to get even closer to her, to prove to himself that she was really there.

"I've never seen a blizzard like this before," Hitsugaya replied, doing his best to resist the urge to reach out to her. Why was this feeling so intense tonight? He decided that talking might help him resist his flaring hormones. "Even though I spend my life surrounded by ice, this is something else. It's almost abnormal."

"Are you sure you're not creating this?" Karin asked. "Don't you control the weather or something?"

"Yeah, I do. But this is no more mine than the darkness is yours. This one's belongs to nature."

"It's beautiful," Karin marveled.

"Ice isn't beautiful," Hitsugaya stated soundly.

"It's the same thing as before isn't it?" Karin replied, a tinge of annoyance in her voice. "With the snowball fight. You think that because something is your weapon, you aren't allowed to appreciate it."

"I _do_ appreciate it," he retorted. "I appreciate its power." Karin sighed.

"Just because something is strong and powerful doesn't mean it can't be beautiful."

"Like you?" It took a minute for Hitsugaya to realize what he had said. He had never meant to say something like that. It just kind of…slipped out. Honestly, why was he even thinking that? What had come over him? Was it the night? He wasn't sure.

"Wait," he defended, trying to cover for his mistake. "I…didn't mean that like it sounds…um…what I meant was…" but he was shut up instantly as he felt a warm hand on his cheek. Everything about him seemed to freeze at that moment; his brain, his breath, his body, his sense of time. He couldn't move a muscle, captivated as he was by her simple gesture.

"Karin…" he began in a strangled voice, not sure what he wanted to say next. His heart broke out of the full-body bind he was under and began pounding in his throat. But the rest of him remained immobile, utterly lost in her magic spell.

"Shhh," she hushed him. And Hitsugaya obeyed. He cursed the darkness, wishing more than anything he could see her eyes at this moment; see the softness and tenderness he knew was reflected there. But at the same time, he was eternally grateful for it. Not only did it hide the blush he knew graced his face, but he also knew he would never have had the courage to stand there if he could see her. Touch was the only sense they needed.

Karin's hand slowly caressed his cheek, stroking his skin lovingly. She traced his jaw line, his mouth, his nose, his eyes, his ears, then moved up to his hair to run her fingers through his unruly locks. Her second hand joined the first on the other cheek, and Hitsugaya closed his eyes. Not that it mattered, since he couldn't see anyway, but somehow, it magnified the sensations running through him at that moment.

Her hot breath on his face was the only warning he had before he felt her lips press against his. That action yanked Hitsugaya out of his trance and into reality. He found that he was once again in control of his body. But he didn't move away like he thought he would. Instead, he brought one hand up to her face to mirror her previous actions, and the other snaked around her waist to draw her closer. And he kissed her back. The darkness became intoxicating. The longer they kissed, the more passionate they became, and the more desperate to let the other know just how much they had come to care over the past six weeks. They got lost in the enchantment of each other's embrace as they moved closer and closer together, the moment too full of fervor to properly comprehend.

Suddenly, a vicious, potent reiatsu filled the air, smothering them with its pressure. It felt like a thousand needles had just ripped through the fabric of space-time and were stabbing them repeatedly. Karin gasped, and Hitsugaya felt her fall out of his arms and onto the floor.

"Karin!" he cried desperately, leaning down and trying to find her shoulder. He was accustomed to such evil reiatsu, but Karin was still a rookie when it came to such things. "Are you alright?!"

"I'm fine," she replied bravely, although her breathing was heavy and ragged. "It just…startled me is all. What is that?"

"It's…" but before he could answer, the door was flung open, flooding the room with light from the hallway. It took a minute for Hitsugaya's eyes to adjust after the fierce darkness, but when they did, he saw that the person who had opened the door was Ichigo, clad as a shinigami, already holding his unsheathed zanpakto, and scowling angrily. Somewhere in his mind, Hitsugaya thanked his lucky stars that he and Karin weren't still lip locked. He thought that sight might just be enough to distract Ichigo from the foul reiatsu outside and attack him instead.

"Let's go Toushiro," Ichigo directed. "I don't know what's out there, but whatever it is, it's strong. And close."

"Two, maybe three," Hitsugaya announced, feeling around for the source of the reiatsu. "High ranking Arrancar at least, possibly Espada." He looked at Ichigo, who was raring to fight, then at Karin, who looked shocked but resolute, then at the small basket in the corner containing the now crying Hoshi. He most certainly was feeling the reiatsu's effects, and Hitsugaya didn't even want to think about how painful it was for his tiny body.

"I can't leave," he told Ichigo. "I have to stay and protect Hoshi."

"Ichi-nii can't handle whatever's out there by himself!" Karin shouted trying to make Hitsugaya see reason. "They're too strong. Even I can tell that."

"Oh, so I'm supposed to just leave him alone then?" Hitsugaya retorted. "The whole reason I came here was to protect him."

"I'll do it," Karin said, her face set with determination. "I'll guard him."

"But…"

"Trust me Toushiro." They stared into each other's eyes for a moment. Karin's had a wild, steely look about them that almost scared Hitsugaya in their ferocity. He had never seen her be more serious about anything. And, against his better judgment, he agreed.

"Take care of him Karin." She nodded.

"Wait, Toushiro," Ichigo interjected. "What's she going to do? Maybe you should stay here. I'll be fine by myself." Hitsugaya shook his head.

"Trust her Kurosaki," he said with conviction. "She's stronger than she looks." Ichigo tried to protest again, but Hitsugaya had already popped a gikongon into his mouth and pried open the frozen window. Ichigo looked back and forth between Hitsugaya and Karin before giving in and following Hitsugaya out the window and into the violent blizzard.

Hitsugaya couldn't see. The darkness that had been pressing on him before was still present, but this time, it was mixed with the blinding snow that pummeled him with so much force, he found it difficult to move. Even though he knew Ichigo had been standing next to him a second ago, he couldn't see him.

"This is ridiculous!" Ichigo complained, his voice sounding muffled through the driving snowstorm. "Getsuga tenshou!" A flash of electric blue surged in front of his eyes, cutting through the falling snow, at least temporarily. Hitsugaya peeled his eyes during the few precious seconds of vision he had, and his heart stopped dead. Standing there, ignoring the snow entirely, were two individuals that Hitsugaya recognized instantly and was not at all happy to see. Yammi was cracking his knuckles menacingly, but Uloquiorra just stood there, looking as bored as ever. Hitsugaya drew his sword, readying himself for the fight.

"What are you doing here?" he snarled with authority. "What do you want?" Uloquiorra looked him straight in the eye and said simply,

"Aizen-sama would like his son."

**Bam! Bet you weren't expecting **_**that**_**! Ok, maybe you were, because the story would be horribly boring without it, but still, I can dream right?**

**I promise the heavy darkness and Hitsugaya and Karin's spike in hormones will be explained, since I know at first glance it seems kind of forced for a first kiss. But for now, please just enjoy the smut (or lack thereof, since I suck at writing the details).**


	9. Battle in the Blizzard

**I made a discovery today that I simply must share with you all. Anyone who has watched Full Metal Alchemist knows that Ed has the same voice actor as Hitsugaya. It's obvious the second he opens his mouth. What's not so obvious is that his brother Al's voice actor is also the voice actor for…wait for it…KARIN! No I am not joking. Is that a match made in heaven or what? Ok, sorry for my fangirlism and sorry if you haven't seen Full Metal Alchemist (you should, it's amazing), but I just had to put that knowledge out there for anyone who doesn't know. Ok, I'm done. On with more interesting things… **

Hitsugaya felt like the world had just fallen out from under him. The snow was still accosting him and the night was still more substantial than it should have been, but none of that seemed to register with him anymore. His cover had been blown and he was in the worst situation imaginable.

"How…how did you know?" he asked, trying desperately to keep his voice firm and commanding.

"He was calling to us," Uloquiorra replied. "Surely you are intelligent enough to have felt that. Or has the ranking of taicho fallen so low?" Hitsugaya gasped. The darkness! The heavy darkness that felt like it was drawing him to something, like it was designed to bring people together; that had been Hoshi?! So he was an illusionist after all. Then that moment with Karin had been nothing more than forced attraction engendered by the illusion? He shook his head. Now was not the time to think about that.

"Toushiro, what's he talking about?" Ichigo asked. "Aizen's son? Don't tell me that kid is…"

"Aizen's son," Hitsugaya answered the unfinished question. "Does that change anything?" Ichigo smirked.

"Yeah it does," he replied, raising his zanpakto. "It means we have to work even harder to protect him. Bankai!" The force of Ichigo's release blew away the snow, creating another temporary open battlefield.

"Interesting," Yammi said in amusement, as if he was enjoying this immensely. "I never thought Aizen-sama's son would be hulled up in a pit like this. But whatever. We just got ta' get the brat right? I'll take the eager one, eh Uloquiorra?"

"Do as you like," Uloquirra replied in a bored voice. Yammi disappeared and reappeared instantly beside Ichigo. The clashing of Ichigo's blade against Yammi's iron skin was the only sound Hitsugaya heard before they were smothered once again by the snow, the respite of sight gone.

Hitsugaya raised Hyourinmaru, expecting an attack at any second, but it never came. Instead, he heard Uloquiorra's cool, collected voice, faint through the snow, but no less nerve-wracking.

"I have no wish to engage in unnecessary fights, little-taicho-san," he said, his words putting Hitsugaya even more on guard. "So if you would please hand over the child, there will be no need to hurt you."

"Like I'll let that happen!" Hitsugaya stated firmly. "Bankai! Daiguren Hyourinmaru!" He spread his imposing ice wings above him, shielding himself from the driving storm, as his tail made a rapid sweep around him, in a vain attempt to draw Uloquiorra out of hiding.

"The weather won't beat me!" he thought to himself. "I am the ice prince!" Using more concentration than he ever thought he would need, Hitsugaya spread his reiatsu out as wide as he could, pushing the snow away from him and creating a nice sized area to fight in. But Uloquiorra stayed outside of the expanding zone.

"I'm impressed," Uloquiorra said without conviction. "It looks like you have some skills after all."

"Show yourself!" Hitsugaya demanded. Not that he expected Uloquiorra to appear any more than he expected him to engage in combat willingly. But that wasn't what Hitsugaya was focused on. Yammi, he knew, cared much more about killing Ichigo than any mission he was sent on, so he wasn't worried about that front. But Uloquiorra was another matter. The Espada was almost as mysterious as Aizen himself, but Hitsugaya knew that he avoided fighting whenever possible and put all his effort into accomplishing his task. He had to distract him from Hoshi no matter what. If he got anywhere near the house, everything was lost.

"I'll just have to beat him before that happens," he thought with renewed determination. He still couldn't see Uloquiorra, but weeks of training an illusionist had given him a myriad of new battle ideas. Sending Hyourinmaru out randomly into the abyss of the storm would be fruitless, he knew. Uloquiorra was too fast, and it would take too long to find him. But, as he had told Karin countless times, ice was his weapon. Summoning up as much reiatsu as he could, he sent it out in all directions. This time, instead of pushing the falling snow away, he infused it with his reiatsu, turning each snowflake into an extension of Hyourinmaru.

"Over there!" he directed, and sent a forceful wave of snow, helped along by the dragon from his sword, towards the area he knew Uloquiorra was hiding in. He wasn't sure how much damage it would cause, but the intention was to keep pushing him away from the house.

"Ryusenka!" he cried, sending a block of his own ice at the still invisible source of Uloquiorra's reiatsu. Hitsugaya shunpoed to the site, sword raised high, ready to engage. It made contact, and Hitsugaya used his reiatsu to push the snow far enough away to see Uloquiorra's expressionless face.

"The rank of taicho really has fallen," he said. Hitsugaya gasped. There was no sign that he had attacked at all. Uloquiorra looked completely unfazed. He raised a single finger and pointed it directly at Hitsugaya, and radiant green ball began to form on the tip.

"Cero!" Hitsugaya panicked. He jumped backwards, out of the path of destruction, and protected himself with his wings just in time. The cero washed over him, but his ice shield, reinforced as it was by the sheer quantity of snow in the air, protected him well enough. He unfolded his wings, but due to the storm, he had lost sight of Uloquiorra again.

"Damn it!" he cursed. He desperately searched for the source of Uloquiorra's reiatsu. He found it, to his surprise, as far away from the house as he could be. Not bothering to wonder why Uloquiorra was allowing him to remain in his defensive position between him and the house, he raised his hand and shouted,

"Way of destruction 33, blue crash!" The brilliant kido lit up the imposing night, shot through the snow, and made contact with its target. The snow around it fizzled with the pure energy created by the attack, allowing Hitsugaya to glimpse Uloquiorra for the tiniest second as he deflected the kido with a single hand.

"Is that all?" Uloquiorra taunted. "How disappointing." He still didn't move. Why wasn't he moving? Wasn't his goal to retrieve Hoshi? Hitsugaya flew forwards, sword out, but Uloquiorra shunpoed out of the way at the last second, but, to Hitsugaya's enormous surprise, he moved _backwards_.

"Isn't he trying to get into the house?" Hitsugaya said to himself. "Why…" And then it hit him. Uloquiorra had no intention of entering the house. He was just trying to draw Hitsugaya away from it, which meant…

"There's another Arrancar here, isn't there?" he asked into the howling wind. But a flair of reiatsu answered his question for him.

"Karin!" he cried. He knew her reiatsu more than well enough at this point. But instead of being stable and calm like it usually was, it was fluctuating wildly, as if she had lost control.

"You really are quite slow for a taicho." Uloquiorra's voice rang in his ears, but Hitsugaya didn't care anymore. Turning around, he shunpoed as fast as he could towards the house, halting at the window, since he couldn't fit inside with his bankai released. Karin was lying on the floor unconscious. There was no sign of blood or a struggle and Hitsugaya could still feel her reiatsu, so he knew she was alive and uninjured. But what brought his heart to a standstill wasn't Karin. It was Hoshi. His basket was empty. He was gone.

"No!" Hitsugaya shouted, but he could barely hear his own voice anymore. He sealed his bankai and climbed back in through the window. He knelt at Karin's side and shook her shoulders urgently.

"Karin!" he called to her. "Karin, wake up!" Karin stirred slightly at his voice and groaned.

"Karin!" Hitsugaya said again. He knew how alarmed he sounded, but at the moment, he really didn't care. Karin cracked her eyes open and looked up into his pleading face.

"Toushiro?" she asked in a weak voice. "Is that you?"

"Karin, are you alright? What happened? Where's Hoshi?" At that, Karin seemed to come to her senses.

"Hoshi!" she yelped, snapping to attention and grabbing Hitsugaya's shoulders. "Toushiro, Hoshi…"

"Toushiro, what's going on?" came Ichigo's voice from the window. "I was in the middle of fighting that Espada bastard, and all of a sudden he got taken in by that yellow Negacion light thing. Why would they just leave like that? Unless…"

"Hoshi's gone," Karin said, dropping her head in shame. She couldn't bring herself to look Hitsugaya in the eye. "I tried Toushiro. I really tried. But he caught me off guard, and his shunpo was too fast and I…I failed. I'm sorry."

"Sorry?!" Hitsugaya snapped. "Sorry doesn't cut it! You let them take him! You said you'd protect him!" Rage, uncontrollable rage was coursing through him like wildfire. He felt himself start to shake. "I said I wanted to stay! I could have stopped him! But instead, I trusted you. Well, I'll never make that mistake again."

"How dare you?!" she shouted back at him. "I did my best…"

"Well, your best clearly wasn't good enough!" he spat. "I should have known you weren't ready to fight."

"Oi, don't yell at her!" Ichigo defended, but Hitsugaya wasn't listening. He stood up, turned his back to her, and began making a series of complicated looking seals with his hands. Karin felt herself on the verge of tears. She had never felt so horrible. Hitsugaya had entrusted her with Hoshi's safety, and she had allowed him to be kidnapped right under her nose. It _was _her fault.

"Toushiro, what are you doing?" Ichigo asked.

"I'm going after him," Hitsugaya replied harshly. "I can't let Hoshi fall into that monster's hands." He finished his seals and held his hands out wide in front of him. A black hole materialized from his palms and created a large door in the center of the room.

"Wait," Ichigo stopped him. "I'll come with you."

"I appreciate that Kurosaki," Hitsugaya replied. "But this is my fight."

"Oh shove it!"

"Kurosaki!" Hitsugaya barked threateningly. "Don't you _dare_ speak to me that way! I am a taicho of the Gotei 13!"

"Yeah, and quite dumb at that!" Hitsugaya swelled with indignation, but Ichigo was adamant. "There's no reason to go barging into Hueco Mondo by yourself. I'll watch your back." Hitsugaya deliberated for a moment, but he really had no time to waste, and Ichigo did have a point.

"Fine," he agreed.

"I'm coming too!" Karin piped up, finding her way to her feet, her resolution back. Ichigo was about to protest, but Hitsugaya beat him to it.

"You'll do no such thing," he said icily. Karin stood her ground.

"Look, I know you may want to protect me or something, but I can take care of myself!"

"Who said anything about wanting to protect you?!" he retorted. "I just don't trust you anymore."

"Toushiro!" Karin gasped. His words had hit her like a punch to the gut.

"Let's go Kurosaki," he ordered. And without a backwards glance, he disappeared into the door to Hueco Mondo.

**I'm not so thrilled with how that battle turned out, but I'll be the first to admit that I'm not very good at writing fight scenes. Oh, and the darkness thing will be explained further in the next chapter, since I know I didn't do a good enough job here. But I just thought adding the full explanation here would detract from the fight. And don't be too mad at Hitsugaya. He's really emotional right now :P **


	10. Magneto

**Wow guys, thanks for your amazing reaction to the last chapter. I'm really glad you liked it. And yeah, I'm not so sure if Hitsugaya's reaction is ooc or not, but I felt like it was an appropriate reaction for the situation.**

**I apologize for my delay in posting, and I'm going to apologize again that my next post will also be late, but this week is insanely hectic for me and I don't have as much time to write as I would like :( Anyway, here's the next installment!**

Karin stared after Hitsugaya in disbelief, still processing everything that had just happened. It was almost too much to take in all at once.

"Everything will be alright Karin," Ichigo said encouragingly. "We'll be back soon. With the kid." Karin nodded, too numb to do anything else as she watched her brother follow Hitsugaya through the gate to Hueco Mondo. It closed the second he went through, eliminating any possible hope of sneaking in behind them.

Karin fell to her knees. She felt such a mixture of emotions, she was afraid she couldn't handle it. Rage at Hitsugaya for saying those things to her, self-loathing for balking when the Arrancar showed up, and concern for Hoshi and the horrors that awaited him in Aizen's clutches, gnawed at her insides and made her feel almost ready to explode.

"Don't cry!" she commanded herself. "Don't cry!" But the tears started to form anyway.

"He's such a jerk!" she yelled, not caring if her father woke up and heard her. "Who does he think he is, treating me like that?" She shook her head. Now was not the time to wallow in her failure. It was her fault Hoshi had been taken to Hueco Mondo, so it was her responsibility to see that he got home safely. Not even bothering to change out of her pajamas, she grabbed her coat and boots and ran out of the house and into the blizzard.

She couldn't see a thing. Everything around her was a blur. The thick, rich darkness had abated, but the storm was still as brutal as ever, and it blotted out all her surroundings and clobbered her body with more force than snow ever should have. But Karin was immune to the pain and the arctic temperatures, since Hitsugaya's words hurt her more profoundly than the walloping snow or the stinging cold ever could.

_Who said anything about wanting to protect you?! I just don't trust you anymore._

"I'll show him how trustworthy I can be!" Mustering up what remained of her reiatsu, she focused it on herself and illuded away the blizzard.

"Wow, this illusion stuff is really powerful!" she marveled, as she looked at the calm, clear night around her. Breaking into a run, Karin headed towards the one person she knew could help her.

ooooooooooooooo

"Urahara!" Karin shrieked, pounding on the door to his shop. "Urahara I know you're in there! Wake up or I'll…" but any potential threat was unfounded as the door slid open, revealing a very wide awake Urahara.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to get here Karin," he said jovially, as if she was simply late for tea and not breaking down his door in the dead of night, in the middle of a blizzard, panting like a dog, and developing a rather severe case of frostbite on her uncovered ears. He stood back and allowed her to collapse on his floor. Once she was inside, the precarious illusion she had herself under broke, and the blizzard returned to its former state of ferocity.

"You've developed quite a bit as an illusionist," Urahara commented, looking out at the snow briefly before closing the door. "You've already figured out that you can illude yourself if the need arises. I'm impressed."

"Well, you can impress me by telling me you already have a gate to Hueco Mondo open and…what?!" She sat up straight, exhaustion mostly gone. "How the hell did you know I was an illusionist?" Urahara smiled knowingly.

"Hitsugaya taicho may have been hiding his reiatsu, but you made no effort to hide yours. I recognized the change immediately. Plus, the bubble of snow-free air around you was a dead giveaway. You could have illuded away the cold too you know."

"You knew Toushiro was here?!" she asked, ignoring the slight in favor of being utterly flabbergasted. "How?"

"My dear, why on earth would you of all people need two universal gigais?" Urahara tapped himself proudly on the nose. "I've known that he was here with Aizen's kid since the beginning."

"Oh…wait, WHAT?! Aizen's kid?!" Karin didn't think she could take any more surprises at the moment. Her heart was so tortured as it was. "You mean Hoshi is…"

"Whatever Hitsugaya taicho told that idiot brother of yours, there is absolutely no reason why Aizen would have any interest in a child that was not his own. Therefore, the only reason to go on a secret mission solely in order to hide a baby is if the baby is actually Aizen's offspring. As to the mother, my money would be on his fukutaicho, Hinamori, but one never can tell with a popular taicho like that one." Karin felt like her head was spinning.

"How do you know so much?" she groaned. "Isn't there anything that can be kept a secret from you?"

"Oh yes," he said seriously. "For example, I have no idea what affect that magneto had on you and Hitsugaya taicho."

"Magneto?" Karin asked curiously. "What's that?" But before Urahara could answer, a redheaded shinigami appeared and whacked him on the top of the head.

"Don't pass off information I've given you as your own personal reasoning skills!" she reprimanded. "You knew nothing about the baby's true parents. I told you that, you pathetic show off. Oh, hello Karin-chan! Nice to see you again." She flashed Karin a winning smile. Karin recognized her.

"You're…" Karin began, but the woman cut her off.

"10th squad fukutaicho, Matsumoto Rangiku!" she said brightly.

"But…what are you doing here?" Karin asked confused. "How did you even know Toushiro was here? Wasn't this mission top secret?"

"It was," Matsumoto replied. "But things changed when the Espada showed up. I was called in for an emergency meeting with Yamamoto soutaicho who explained the entire situation to me and sent me to assist my taicho. Unfortunately, he had apparently already left for Hueco Mondo by the time I arrived. So I intend to follow him there."

"I'm coming with you!" Karin insisted. "It's my fault that Hoshi was kidnapped. I couldn't protect him. Plus, I owe it to Toushiro. He trained me and I failed him. I won't let it happen again." Matsumoto smiled warmly at her.

"Anyone that has the guts to call my taicho Toushiro and not get frozen for it must be a pretty special person. But Hueco Mondo is not somewhere to be entered lightly. Are you sure you're ready?"

"Yes," Karin stated firmly. "That's what I've been training for."

"Well then, I wouldn't leave you behind even if you wanted to stay," Matsumoto said cheerily. Karin grinned.

"Thanks Matsumoto-san," she said gratefully.

"Oh, please call me Rangiku."

"Um, I hate to be the buzz kill," Urahara interjected, "but I'm afraid I cannot allow you to go Karin."

"What!?" Karin cried. "Why?"

"I fear that your brother might have my head if I sent you somewhere as dangerous as Hueco Mondo," he replied. "And I quite like my head where it is." Karin swelled with anger.

"Don't tell me you're really afraid of that idiot!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "How can he have any control over what I do? Or what you do for that matter? I've been training my butt off so that I could protect Hoshi, and I'm not about to let your little fear of death get in my way! I messed up once, but I _will not_ do it again! They won't catch me off guard this time. I've learned my lesson and I'm more than ready to fight. I'm going to Hueco Mondo whether you like it or not!" Urahara smiled calculatingly.

"That's just what I'd expect from you," he praised. "You're just as stubborn as your brother, albeit a bit more eloquent."

"That's not a compliment," Karin grumbled. Urahara chuckled.

"Well," he continued, "I see that I have no choice. Let the record say I was coerced into this. Matsumoto-san, you're my witness. Now, perhaps we should see about opening that gate."

"Wait," Karin stopped him. "You never told me what a magneto was." Urahara's eyes opened wide in surprise.

"Surely you, a talented illusionist felt it," he said, hiding his broad smile behind a white fan that materialized out of nowhere. "If you think you are strong enough to go into Hueco Mondo, than you should be able to recognize it for what it was. Magneto is an illusionist's technique designed to draw people together, no matter what the distance is. Anyone capable of performing illusions can create one, but it requires a responding party who can also make illusions to have any effect. Its main purpose is to find people that are lost. It is the technique that Aizen used to find his son, despite his rather effective hiding place. The initiator of the magneto sends out a signal, directed at whomever he wishes to find, and, if the recipient senses it, he responds with his own magneto, bringing the two parties together like a magnet. Hence, 'magneto.' It would appear that your little charge is an illusionist himself, and responded to his father's magneto. Of course, there are side effects. The magneto creates a rather heavy atmosphere within a small radius around the two users and it tends to captivate those caught in it, generating within them a strong need to be close to each other." Karin gasped. She understood exactly the effect Urahara was talking about.

"No!" she thought. "It can't be right! I kissed him because I wanted to, not because of some stupid magneto technique!" But she wasn't even sure that was true anymore. She had definitely felt a change in her desire for him tonight. Like her emotions were on hyper-drive and all her boundaries had dissolved, leaving nothing but passion in their wake. If that had all been an illusion, then she had quite enjoyed it. Then she remembered that Hitsugaya was furious at her, which in turn made her furious at him.

"You're blushing," Urahara teased.

"I am not!" Karin snapped. "I'm just red from the cold. Now take us to Hueco Mondo!"

"Hai hai, right this way," Urahara sang. Karin rolled her eyes and she and Matsumoto followed Urahara down into the basement, where he began preparations to open the gate.

"Rangiku," Karin said as they waited. "I'd like to avoid engaging in unnecessary fights. We're going to get Hoshi back and help Toushiro and Ichi-nii. There's no reason to do anything else. I can make us invisible with my illusions. If you'll just hide your reiatsu, we can sneak around anywhere we want to go. It'll give us the element of surprise."

"Your illusion skills have advanced that far?" Matsumoto marveled.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, usually illusioning something into reality is much easier than illusioning something out of it. In other words, using illusions to create a false landscape or object is much less complex than making something disappear. It's even more difficult to combine the two." Karin thought back to the dresser-lifting exercise Hitsugaya had her repeat over and over. So that's what he was doing; making her combine creation and elimination into a single technique.

"Toushiro was a good teacher," she said simply. Matsumoto saw the distant look in Karin's eyes and smiled.

"You care for him don't you?" Karin scoffed.

"No," she said darkly. "He's a jerk. The first thing I'm going to do when I see him is punch his lights out." Matsumoto laughed heartily.

"I'm sure he'll appreciate that in the middle of a fight." Karin grinned.

"Ready ladies?" Urahara asked. "I'm going to open the gate now."

"Ready!" Matsumoto chimed.

"Ready," Karin agreed. Urahara clapped his hands together and the giant mouth-like gate opened. Karin and Matsumoto jumped in as one, and were swallowed up into the darkness leading to Hueco Mondo.

"I'm coming Hoshi!" Karin thought. "Whether Toushiro wants me to or not!"

oooooooooooooooo

Hitsugaya was halfway to Hueco Mondo when the guilt hit. Hard.

"What did I do?!" he derided himself. "I'm such a fool! It was her first real fight, she's never even used illusions to fight a simple hollow, but she volunteered to go up against a fully fledged Arrancar. Sure she lost, but it wasn't her fault really. It was mine for allowing her to fight an enemy I knew she wasn't ready to face. I shouldn't have said those things to her." He felt terrible.

He remembered the moment they had shared just before the Espada had shown up; the darkness, the passion, the electricity that had flowed through them. Hitsugaya had never felt that way before. He realized now that it had probably occurred as a result of the magneto Aizen was using to find Hoshi, but that didn't make his feelings for her any less real. Magneto attraction couldn't force people to do things they wouldn't do otherwise. It simply created such a need for closeness that it tended to remove inhibitions that otherwise would prevent certain actions from occurring. Karin's desire to kiss him and his desire to kiss back had been honest manifestations of their emotions.

"I love her, don't I?" he realized. "But I messed up. I was an idiot and I said something horrible. And now she'll probably never forgive me." The thought made his heart hurt.

**See, Toushiro is finally feeling significantly guilty. You knew it was coming, I couldn't keep him a jerk for too long. And I hope the darkness thing is fully explained now, although it will continue to be important, so don't think it's going away just yet :P**


	11. Honored Guests

**Again, I want to apologize to you all for how long it took me to get this chapter out. I had a monster test yesterday, and I've been studying my brains out all week, so I didn't have any time to sit down and write. I finally managed to get this chapter out, but I'm not so cure it turned out how I wanted it, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.**

**Oh, and for everyone who wanted Karin to become a shinigami, let me explain why I didn't do it (and laziness is not a reason). 1) I hate doing that. If she's dead it's fine, but the shinigami transformation has been done so many times, it's old and unoriginal, so I personally find it boring, to read as well as write. 2) She's in a **_**major**_** hurry here people! Hoshi and Hitsugaya are there now. She doesn't have time to sit around and train for days on end. And 3) She's damn strong enough as it is, don't you think? Besides, if she wants a sword, all she has to do is illusion one into existence. She doesn't need to be a shinigami to have a zanpakto. Ok I'm done. Here's the chapter…finally.**

Uloquiorra walked calmly down the hall of Las Noches, nursing his injured hand as discretely as he could. He would never actually admit to anyone that blocking Hitsugaya's snow attack had done as much damage as it had. He was too proud for that. Luckily, the damage was mostly internal, so as long as his outward appearance didn't give any indication of the horrific pain he was in, there was no way for anyone else to know. And keeping a blank face regardless of the situation was one of Uloquiorra's specialties. He paused in front of a large door, pushed his pain as far back into his mind as it would feasibly go, and knocked (with the uninjured hand of course).

"Come in," boomed an authoritative voice. Uloquirroa entered the room and bowed before the large throne in the center.

"You summoned me, Aizen-sama," he said humbly.

"I did," Aizen replied. "It seems that we have visitors. I would like to greet them. Please escort them here. And see that no harm befalls them before they arrive. They are my honored guests, and I would like to thank them personally for the care they have provided for my son."

"As you wish, Aizen-sama," Uloquiorra replied, prostrating himself further before slipping respectfully out of the room. Aizen smiled to himself.

"Sometimes ants must be squashed under one's own foot," he said thoughtfully.

ooooooooooooooooo

"Dang, it feels like I just left this place," Ichigo said with a groan, gazing out over the desert wasteland bathed in eternal night. "I never thought I'd be back so soon."

"You asked to come here," Hitsugaya replied coolly. "Don't complain." He broke into a run.

"Oi, Toushiro, wait up!" Ichigo called after him, racing to catch up.

"If you're slow, I'm going to leave you behind Kurosaki!" Ichigo scoffed.

"You couldn't even wait for me in the severed world, and now you're trying to get away from me here! I came to help." Hitsugaya didn't respond. He had too much going on in his head at the moment to deal with Ichigo's ramblings.

"Neh, Toushiro," Ichigo began. "Where'd all that crap with Karin come from? What did you mean, you don't trust her anymore?" Hitsugaya felt like Ichigo had just wacked him over the head with his zanpakto.

"That's none of your concern," he sneered, quickening his pace. Unfortunately for him, Ichigo's endurance was almost inhuman. He matched Hitsugaya's new speed subconsciously.

"It is too my concern!" Ichigo retorted. "She's my sister and I care about what people say about her. What did you expect from her anyway? It's not like she's a shinigami. What was she supposed to do, sweet talk the Arrancar into leaving Hoshi alone? I mean, I know she's good with that kind of stuff, but she's not _that_ good!"

"Your sister has powers that even you are not capable of," Hitsugaya replied tersely. "She is far from helpless." He was not in the mood to explain illusionists to Ichigo. He didn't think the buffoon's brain could handle it anyway, especially when his mind should be focused on reaching their destination. "Just be quite and run…" But he was cut off as a figure suddenly shunpoed in front of them. Hitsugaya and Ichigo both instinctively reached for their sword hilts and Hitsugaya's eyes narrowed.

"I have no intention of fighting you," Uloquiorra said firmly.

"That's what you said last time," Hitsugaya replied darkly, drawing Hyourinmaru just in case. "Yet you still made off with Hoshi. Now where is he?!"

"If you mean Aizen-sama's son, I cannot tell you that," Uloquiorra drawled. "But as I said, I have no intention of fighting. I am here as a messenger. Aizen-sama would like to speak with you personally."

"Don't mess with us!" Ichigo cried, also drawing his zanpakto. "Tell us where the kid is…"

"Take us to him," Hitsugaya interrupted. "Take us to Aizen."

"Toushiro," Ichigo gasped. Uloquiorra nodded.

"Follow me." Uloquiorra began the trek towards Las Noches, and Hitsugaya followed at a safe distance, Hyourinmaru still held firmly in his hand.

"Toushiro," Ichigo said urgently. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to Aizen," he stated soundly. "I'm going to end this once and for all."

"And what if it's a trap?"

"Don't think I haven't considered that possibility? But so what if it is? Our situation will be no worse than it is now. Do you doubt your ability to fight your way out?" Ichigo scoffed.

"Of course not!"

"Then there's nothing to worry about." Hitsugaya ended the conversation there, choosing instead to focus all his energy on Uloquiorra and his surroundings, waiting for any sign of an ambush. Las Noches grew closer and closer, and with it, Hitsugaya's anxiety. Were they really not going to be attacked? Was Uloquiorra really taking them to see Aizen? He tightened his grip on his hilt. If he could defeat Aizen, then the war was as good as won. Hueco Mondo would be thrown into chaos. The hollows would never unite under another, even if a different leader did try to take the stage. So much was riding on this theoretical fight. But Hitsugaya wavered. Was he capable of winning? Sure he had been training, mercilessly in fact, since the last time he had faced Aizen, but would it be enough? Even with Ichigo by his side, he wasn't sure if they had the strength to counter Aizen if he used his illusions. Last time Aizen had outwitted him so easily. But this wasn't last time. Last time he was caught off guard. This time, he was ready. He remembered his words to himself when he had decided to take on this recent mission.

"I couldn't protect Hinamori," he reminded himself. "So I'll protect her son. I _will_ defeat Aizen and I _will_ rescue Hoshi. I owe it to everyone I care about." With renewed determination, he looked back at Uloquiorra and the imposing castle which they had finally reached.

"Welcome," Uloquiorra said, opening the grand door in front of him. "To Las Noches."

ooooooooooooooooo

"I never realized Hueco Mondo was a desert," Karin marveled, observing the never-ending horizon. "I was expecting something much drearier. This is almost…beautiful."

"It's a land of death," Matsumoto said ominously. Karin looked up at the woman beside her. Although they were invisible to everyone else, Karin had blocked the illusion for them, so that they could still see each other. She thought it was safer that way. She shrugged.

"It's still beautiful. I assume that's where we're heading?" She pointed at the looming castle in the distance. Matsumoto nodded.

"You can't use shunpo, can you?" she asked. Karin shook her head.

"I may be an illusionist, but I'm not a shinigami. I can make someone think I have a zanpakto if I need to, but even I can't illusion myself to move at shunpo speed."

"Then climb on." Matsumoto knelt on the ground, offering her back to Karin. "We'll move faster this way." It felt horribly demeaning to have to be carried like that, but Karin was beyond that. She knew how important it was that they arrive there as quickly as possible, so swallowed her pride and assumed a piggy-back position on Matsumoto's back.

"Ready?" Matsumoto asked as Karin clamped her hands firmly around Matsumoto's neck.

"Ready," Karin replied, and with that, they were off.

ooooooooooooooooo

The halls of Las Noches were just as confusing as ever, but Uloquiorra had no difficulty finding his way around. They met few people on the way, but those they did simply bowed in homage before Uloquiorra while casting nasty glances at Hitsugaya and Ichigo. But Hitsugaya ignored them. His nerves were reaching the breaking point. Being here, so close to Aizen and Hoshi, with enemies all around him, was not comforting in the slightest. He searched desperately for Hoshi's reiatsu, but he couldn't find it anywhere. He assumed that Aizen had placed a barrier around him, just as he himself had done. The only reassuring thought he had was that surely Hoshi would come to no harm here. There was no way Aizen would sacrifice his son and heir. Why else would he want him?

Uloquiorra came to a halt in front of a door. It was identical to the hundreds they had already passed, but Hitsugaya could already feel the foul reiatsu emanating from the room beyond. Without waiting for Uloquiorra, Hitsugaya raced past him and burst into the room to face the man he hated more than any other.

"Aizen," Hitsugaya spat, his voice laced with pure hatred. He glared at the man, who stood at the opposite end of the cavernous hall, flanked by his two most trusted lackeys, Ichimaru Gin and Tousen Kaname. Aizen looked up at him and smiled genially.

"Welcome to my castle, Hitsugaya-kun," he said jovially. "I hope you enjoy your stay."

"Ala, you are so kind, Aizen-sama," Gin smirked in his smarmy voice. "Welcoming in your guests like this."

"Aren't I?" Aizen replied with a smile.

"Aizen," Hitsugaya growled, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "This time, I will kill you."

"Ah, you never do learn, do you?" Aizen replied with a shake of his head. "I told you not to use such strong statements. They will make you appear weak." Hitsugaya refused to be intimidated. He let out an enormous battle cry and charged. Aizen shunpoed out of the way at the last second, landing in the center of the room. Hitsugaya attacked again, but this time, Aizen blocked him with his bare hand and sent him barreling across the hall. Hitsugaya skidded to a stop.

"Calm down," he ordered himself. "This isn't a battle of strength. It's a battle of cunning. It's the only way to beat an illusionist."

"Bankai!" he shouted. "Daiguren Hyourinmaru!" Armed with his ice wings, he charged, but just as he was nearing Aizen, he shunpoed around him, emerging on the opposite side.

"Way of destruction 33, blue crash!" he chanted. The kido appeared to hit its mark, but Hitsugaya didn't wait to find out.

"Sit upon the frozen heavens, Hyourinmaru!" cried, sending in his ice dragon to join the fray. The second blast resounded across the hall. As the dust settled, Hitsugaya became vaguely aware that Ichigo had his hollow mask in place and had begun fighting with Tosen. But before Hitsugaya could even gauge how well he was doing, he heard something that made his blood run cold; Aizen's amused laughter.

"Well, that was quite creative, Hitsugaya-kun," Aizen complimented. The last of the debris cleared and Hitsugaya gasped. Aizen was standing at the bottom of a cavernous pit laced with ice, but he himself was unharmed. There wasn't even a single hair out of place. "Unfortunately, it'll take a bit more than that to bring me down." Aizen disappeared, but Hitsugaya could tell that the movement wasn't shunpo. Out of instinct if nothing else, Hitsugaya whipped around to face the newly materialized Aizen. But he had seen this before. He was expecting the illusion this time. He jumped up and out of the way as Aizen thrust his sword towards him, and the strike meant for his heart impaled his leg instead. Searing pain shot through him as he clutched the wound. It was bleeding profusely and he knew it wouldn't support his weight anymore. But he had been injured before. This was nothing compared to Hoshi's safety. Taking to the sky, Hitsugaya began a new round of attacks. He slashed with his sword over and over, swinging as quickly as he could in the hope of pushing Aizen into a corner so he couldn't counter attack. But Aizen wasn't one to be cornered easily.

"Way of destruction 4, white lightning!" Aizen said lazily, and the kido shot right through Hitsugaya's stomach. He retched and vomited blood.

"Damn it!" he cursed, struggling to get off his knees. Aizen raised his sword, and Hitsugaya mustered up as much energy as he could, and somehow managed to get out of the way. With renewed adrenalin, he took to the air once more and counter attacked. Their swords clashed again and again, but Hitsugaya could feel his strikes becoming weaker with every attack. His vision began to go blurry from all the blood loss, and his swings were rapidly losing power.

Suddenly, an unexpected explosion ripped them away from each other and flung Hitsugaya across the room, where he landed unwittingly on his injured leg and immediately collapsed from the horrific pain.

"KUROSAKI!" Hitsugaya thundered, but Ichigo was so furiously engaged in battle that he didn't even notice that his getsuga tenshou had interfered with Hitsugaya's battle. Aizen smirked.

"Looks like the shinigami representative has yet to learn his boundaries," he said, clearly entertained by the situation. He raised his hand up towards Hitsugaya, who was in too much pain to move.

"Way of destruction 33, blue crash," he said. Hitsugaya didn't have the strength to block it. He braced himself for the hit, but it never came. The kido was halfway to him when it fizzled out in midair. Aizen curiously eyed the spot where it had been.

"That's interesting," he noted. "Let's try that again. Way of destruction 33, blue crash." But this one had barely left his palm when it sputtered and died. Aizen furrowed his eyebrows ever so slightly in confusion, but Hitsugaya finally understood what was going on.

"Karin!" he realized with a jolt. "She's here."

**Ok, so not my best work, I know, but I hope the rest will get better. Now it's Karin's turn to kick some butt!**


	12. Revenge of the Ants

**I wish I had a good excuse for you all, like I was sick or something, but I don't. I guess I'll use writers block as my excuse, since I had absolutely no idea how to write this scene. Must have rewritten it a dozen times, scrapped it, restarted, thought it was stupid, and scrapped it again. I'm still not so sure I'm proud of this, but I think this is the best I can do, and I feel really terrible that it took me so long to post. I think fight scenes just really aren't my thing.**

"Whew, just in time," Kain sighed in relief, jumping off of Matsumoto's back and surveying the room. Hitsugaya was crumpled in a bloody heap on the floor, gasping for breath, his face strained from pain. Aizen was looking at his hand in mild contemplation, obviously wondering why his kidos were failing to fire properly. Ichigo had disappeared under the enormous black sphere of Tousen's bankai. And Gin was leaning lazily against a back wall, observing the scene with his characteristic smirk.

"Something wrong, Aizen-sama?" he asked, his lips spreading even wider and disappearing somewhere around his ears. "Looks like yer having a bit o' trouble with that."

"Gin," Matsumoto growled icily. She had a fierce, wild look on her face. She seemed ready for battle, very different from her usual, carefree self. And before Karin could stop her, she had bolted into the room.

"Damn it, you fool," Karin cursed. She undid the invisibility illusion around Matsumoto just in time, making it appear that she had just shunpoed in front of Gin, rather than sprinting across the room like a raging bull. Before Gin could process her presence, she had her sword at his throat.

"I was wonderin' when you were gonna show up, Rangiku," Gin said, his smirk unfaltering. "You never do leave yer precious taicho's side, do ya?"

"Of course not!" she snarled. "I'm loyal to those I've sworn allegiance to."

"And so am I," Gin replied. Matsumoto's eyes narrowed.

"Gin. You're going to pay for deserting us. For deserting me!" She pressed her sword deeper into his neck, but Gin drew his own sword and pushed her back with the ease of swatting a fly.

"I didn't want ta' have to be the one ta' kill ya' Ran, but it looks like I ain't got no choice."

"Just try it!" Matsumoto threatened. And with that, they attacked, their swords clanking and clashing, the sound of metal on metal reverberating across the room, as both moved too quickly for the untrained eye to follow.

Hitsugaya watched them for a moment, trying to recover from the shock of finding out that both Karin and Matsumoto had followed him here.

"I shouldn't be too surprised," he thought. "But still. Those two. They can't sit still if their lives depend on it huh?" But now was not the time to think about that. Karin had given him an opening, and he needed to use it. But as he tried to get back on his feet, he found that he didn't have the strength.

"Well, it seems that you've learned to negate kido recently, Hitsugaya taicho," Aizen surmised, coming to the only logical conclusion he could develop given the circumstances. "But no matter. It doesn't look like you can move much anyway. Don't worry, I'll make this as painless as possible." He began walking towards Hitsugaya, raising his sword as he did so.

"Move!" Hitsugaya ordered himself. "Move, move, MOVE!" But nothing happened. He had lost way too much blood and his body wasn't listening to him anymore.

Suddenly, a blue crash kido shot directly at Aizen, forcing him backwards.

"It looks like I'm just in time," Karin smirked as she appeared in the doorway clad in a very well illusioned shinigami uniform. "You really are hopeless without me, you know that?"

"Well well well, who are you young lady?" Aizen asked in a feigned friendly voice. "I don't believe I've met you before."

"It doesn't really matter who I am does it?" she replied with a shrug. She snapped her fingers and Tousen's bankai disappeared, revealing a panting Ichigo and a thoroughly confused Tousen. "All that matters is that today is the day you are finally defeated."

She walked over to Hitsugaya and stood next to him.

"Get up!" she barked.

"In case you haven't noticed," he replied through gritted teeth, "I have a rather severe leg wound."

"You do?" Her eyes twinkled momentarily. Hitsugaya looked back down at his leg and gasped. The enormous gash was gone, as was the pain. The hole in his stomach had closed too. Hitsugaya knew it was just an illusion to fool his body, and that he would need proper healing later, but he didn't care. The temporary healing allowed him to fight. And that was all that mattered. He found his way to his feet and stood beside Karin, once again ready for battle.

Aizen was appraising Karin carefully.

"Well isn't this a surprise," he said, not sounding surprised in the slightest. "You've finally managed to drag yourself out of bed, Hinamori." Hitsugaya and Karin both checked, which Aizen took as confirmation.

"Why?" Hitsugaya asked himself frantically. "Why does he think she's Hinamori?" And then it hit him. "He can tell that Karin's an illusionist, based on the techniques she just used. And he must know that Hinamori is an illusionist. She fought alongside him for too many years, and she trusted him implicitly, so surely she would have told him. And there isn't a single other illusionist in Soul Society at the moment who could illusion away a taicho-class bankai." Hitsugaya fought back the urge to smile. If Aizen really thought Karin was Hinamori, he would underestimate her. They finally had the upper hand.

"How did you know?" Hitsugaya growled, playing along completely and hoping like hell that Karin would get the message. Aizen smiled.

"A mother must protect her son, correct?" he replied. "Although you needn't have worried. He is perfectly safe in my care."

"Give me my son back!" Karin shouted, catching Hitsugaya's hint. Aizen's face softened.

"I'm sorry to have worried you, Hinamori-kun," Azien said gently, switching back to the more affectionate version of her name as he slowly made his way towards her. "I did not intend to take our son by force. I only wanted to see him and care for him as a father should."

"You…you expect me to believe you," Karin stuttered, her voice attempting strength that was quickly waning. "You abandoned me. After everything you said to me. Why…why didn't you take me with you? Why couldn't you trust me?" Her voice was breaking now. She seemed to be on the verge of tears. Hitsugaya was more than a little impressed at her acting ability. So this was her infamous sweet-talking skills in action. He wondered for a moment if she had ever used them on him, and if he would notice if she did.

"I'm sorry, Hinamori-kun," Aizen replied, demonstrating his equally extraordinary acting talent. "I'm truly sorry. Now, will you do me the pleasure of removing this illusion from your face?" He reached out and placed a hand on her cheek.

"Gotcha!" Hitsugaya thought triumphantly. And, sure enough, the Aizen in front of Karin disappeared into thin air, his illusion completely lifted, and the _real_ Aizen was revealed, standing in the corner, observing the scene with an expression that was as close to shock as Aizen's face ever got.

"Well now," he said, his smile returning rapidly. "Isn't think amusing?"

_Flashback_

"_Neh, Toushiro?" Karin asked as she passed him a bottle. "Is there a way to get rid of illusions?"_

"_Yeah," Hitsugaya replied, raising Hoshi's head to feed him properly. "If you know you're under an illusion, and you have enough reiatsu, you can usually push an illusion off. But you have to know exactly what the illusion is, and a really skilled illusionist can keep an illusion going, even if they are illuding a person who has higher reiatsu than them." He shifted Hoshi up higher in his arms and tipped the bottle to a sharper angle._

_"How?" Karin asked eagerly._

_"You have to confuse whoever you are illuding. If they try to remove something that isn't an illusion, nothing will happen. So in order to keep them under their illusion, you have to convince them either that they're not under one, or that something real is an illusion. If they try to remove something that isn't an illusion at all, it dramatically increases the strength of your illusions and decreases the strength of theirs." He put the bottle down and lifted Hoshi upright to burp him._

_"Oh, and there's one more thing," he added. "Physical contact magnifies all of this. If the illusionist can actually touch the illusion, it becomes a hundred fold easier to negate it. Unfortunately, I can't create illusions, so I can't help you practice it." Karin smirked._

_"Don't underestimate me," she said confidently. "Now let's get back to training."_

_End of Flashback_

"Well done," Hitsugaya complimented Karin, his eyes never leaving Aizen's face as he lifted his sword.

"Thanks," Karin replied smugly.

"So Soul Society has actually managed to procure a second talented illusionist," the real Aizen commented as he approached them.

"Not exactly," Karin smirked. "Since I'm not technically a shinigami." She shrugged off the illuded shihakusho to reveal the soccer shorts and white tank top she was so fond of sleeping in. "But who I am doesn't matter. You're done for, Aizen." She knelt down and placed her hands on the floor. The ground around Aizen's feet suddenly rose up, curling around his legs and trapping him in place.

"Now Toushiro!" Karin cried, but Hitsugaya was already attacking.

"Ryusenka!" he shouted, directing a wall of ice at the ensnared traitor.

"Did it hit?" Karin asked eagerly.

"Unfortunately," said a voice behind them. "If I know it's an illusion, it's not hard for me to negate it." Hitsugaya whipped around and blocked Aizen's sword from decapitating Karin at the last second. "You're going to have to do better than that." Karin smirked.

"Just watch me." Hitsugaya's sword, which was still pressed up against Aizen's, suddenly grew in size. Hitsugaya took advantage of the added weight to push Aizen away from them in a furious swing that he knew was not entirely his own strength. He raised his sword to attack again, but a sharp cry ripped through the room, forcing his attention elsewhere.

"Matsumoto!" Hitsugaya screamed, taking his eyes off Aizen for a fraction of a second to see the condition of his fukutaicho. Gin had his zanpakto shoved right through her stomach, her blood running down the shaft and over his hands.

"No!" Hitsugaya wailed, but Karin was already on it. An instant later, Gin's zanpakto had disappeared completely and the flow of blood that was pouring out of Matsumoto's wound had ceased. Matsumoto seemed utterly stunned for a moment until she realized what had occurred. She turned to Karin and beamed at her.

"Thanks Karin," she said gratefully. Karin nodded.

"Basic rules of battle, don't take your eyes off of your opponent!" Aizen instructed. Hitsugaya and Karin jerked their heads back, but Aizen was already descending on them. Before either of them could react to the attack, someone else did.

"Damn it Toushiro, if you're going to bring my sister into battle, the least you could do is pay attention to it!" Ichigo scolded. Sparks flew off of his bankai as it pressed against Aizen's sword. The defeated Tousen lay in a bloody, unconscious heap in the corner, the surprise loss of his bankai having been way too much for him to handle. Ichigo didn't look much better. He had a deep gash on his forehead and his shihakusho was in tatters, but, being Ichigo, he still seemed to have more energy than everyone else in the room combined.

Hitsugaya took advantage of Aizen's engagement with Ichigo. The floor was already littered with ice. As silently as he could, he allowed it to creep up Aizen's legs, capturing him the same manner that Karin had done before. Ichigo backed off, readying himself for another attack, and Aizen suddenly realized that he was stuck.

"The same trick won't work twice," he chuckled. He snapped his fingers, but the ice didn't move.

"Unfortunately," Hitsugaya said with a smirk, "that's not an illusion." Hitsugaya didn't have as much time as he would have liked to savor Aizen's genuine look of astonishment as his true entrapment. He leapt forward and rammed his sword though Aizen's stomach, in the same place where he had impaled Hinamori. And he wasn't the only one. Matsumoto had come up from behind and slashed her sword down deep into Aizen's shoulder, just as he had done to Hitsugaya. The effect of the combined attacks appeared to be too much for Aizen, who collapsed, his blood spreading everywhere, his feet still frozen to the ground, as his reiatsu rapidly declined.

"Well, at least I had fun," Aizen murmured before his reiatsu disappeared completely.

"Is he…dead?" Ichigo asked incredulously.

"Yeah," Hitsugaya replied in relief. "He's dead." The group reveled in their stunned glory for a moment, but a sharp cracking sound brought them back to reality.

"This place was programmed ta' collapse if Aizen-sama was e'er defeated," Gin told them, his smirk still not leaving his face. "Good luck gettin' outta' here alive." He shunpoed to Tousen's side, lifted him onto his shoulder, and was gone just as the room began to shake. More cracks appeared in the ceiling and the walls and bits of rubble rained down on them.

"Let's get out of here!" Ichigo said urgently.

"Wait," Hitsugaya stopped him. "We can't leave without Hoshi!"

**I'm really not such a fan of this story, in case you can't tell, and I want to apologize to everyone, since I really don't think it's up to par with my other work. Maybe that's why I'm having so much trouble getting it out. Oh well. The next chapter should not take as long to write as this one did, so I apologize again for the wait, and I hope I haven't lost you yet :P**


	13. Reuniting

**Thanks so much for your support guys. It makes me think that this story isn't a total disaster :P Anyway, I think I actually like this chapter, so I hope you do too :)**

Las Noches was rapidly crumbling around them. The dust clouds that had been falling on them before had magnified into baseball sized chunks. But they couldn't leave. Not yet. They still didn't have Hoshi.

"But we have no idea where the kid is!" Ichigo protested. Hitsugaya shot him the deadliest glare he could muster.

"And did that stop you when it was Inoue who was kidnapped?" he barked. That shut Ichigo up.

"But taicho, we're running out of time," Matsumoto pointed out. "This building is going to collapse." As if in response, a sharp rift knocked them all off their feet.

"Toushiro!" Ichigo cried. "Do something and do it fast!"

"Leave it to me," Karin stated firmly. She reached out and took Hitsugaya's hand. He tried vainly to force his blush down. Now was not the time.

"Karin what…?" he began, but she cut him off.

"Just in case," she replied. She closed her eyes and focused all her energy on Hoshi. She thought about his bright face, his chocolate eyes, his innocent smile. She imagined him lost and alone in this rapidly deteriorating building.

"Hoshi!" she called out to him in her mind. "Where are you?!" And, for the second time that day, Hitsugaya was hit with the sensation that the air around him was suffocating him. Like there was more than the falling rocks and shaking floor that was keeping him from moving properly. Hitsugaya squeezed Karin's hand tightly, grateful that she was still beside him.

"What the hell is going on?" Ichigo shouted, but no one bothered to answer him.

"He responded to my magneto," Karin said. "He's this way." She yanked Hitsugaya's hand and he followed her as best he could through the veritable earthquake, Matsumoto and Ichigo following as best they could.

"This is ridiculous," Karin noted. She waved her hand above her head, illusioning the building back into place. The shaking ceased and the crumbling boulders stopped plummeting from the ceiling.

"We have to hurry," she insisted, pulling Hitsugaya along at an even faster pace. "This building is way too big for me to hold it forever." They hurried down the winding hallways, blindly following Karin, who seemed to know exactly where she was going, as her magneto drew her towards Hoshi.

"Will someone please tell me what's happening?" Ichigo moaned.

"Not now Ichi-nii," Karin brushed him off impatiently. Her energy was quickly waning from all the illusions she was trying to hold at once. The magneto required a lot more concentration to maintain than she thought it would, coupled with the fact that it made it harder to move due to the dense air it created. She still had to keep Hitsugaya and Matsumoto's injuries in check, and holding up Las Noches was no small feat. Hitsugaya could tell that she was struggling. She had sweat running down her cheeks and a strained look on her face. Her speed slowly began to slacken as it became harder and harder for her to run. But Hitsugaya knew how important it was that she remained alert and conscious, at least until they found Hoshi and were back in Karakura. She was the only thing holding them all together. Literally.

"Karin," he said. "Let me carry you." She groaned.

"I've already been carried once today, do I really have to do it again?"

"You barely have the strength to stand while holding all those illusions. Let me share some of your burden." Karin looked at him. She didn't know if it was because of the magneto or not, but his eyes were so full of affection and sincerity that she almost wanted to kiss him again, right then and there.

"Ok," she agreed. Hitsugaya lifted her onto his back, ignoring the strangled cry that came from Ichigo as he did so.

"Now we can shunpo," Hitsugaya shouted back to prevent Ichigo from slicing him in half. "Where to Karin?" She pointed around a corner.

"That way."

"Follow me everyone," Hitsugaya ordered, and with that, they were off, the shunpo helping tremendously. Hitsugaya tried as hard as he could to focus on the task at hand rather than the fact that Karin was flush against his back, with her arms wrapped tightly around him and her warm breath flowing sensually across his already very alert neck. The magneto wasn't helping his heightened hormones either. He was almost about to lose it completely, when Karin finally yelled,

"Here! He's in that room." The group skidded to a halt. Karin jumped off of Hitsugaya's shoulders as he burst through the door. Hoshi was lying on a bed in the center of the room, flanked by two Arrancar guards.

"Sorry, but we can't let you pass," they stated arrogantly. "We're under orders from…" but who gave the orders was lost as, in unison, Hitsugaya and Ichigo swung and pierced them through the middle. They were dead before they hit the ground.

"Pathetic guards," Hitsugaya mumbled. "Aizen, you stupid freak. You can't even find someone descent to guard your son."

"Hoshi!" Karin said with relief, running forward to embrace the boy. "Thank goodness you're safe." But as she held him, her fatigue finally consumed her, and she fell to her knees, breathing heavily. Las Noches started to shake once more. Hitsugaya felt a jerk in his leg as the healing illusion he was under weakened. Matsumoto gasped, and her hand flew to her stomach as her wound too began to reopen. But she bravely stepped forward and took the baby from Karin, allowing Ichigo to scoop up his exhausted sister.

"Taicho!" Matsumoto said urgently, and Hitsugaya nodded. As quickly as he could, he began to form the seals necessary to open a gate out of Hueco Mondo and back to Karakura. The pain in his leg and stomach increased steadily, and he could hear Matsumoto's breathing become more labored, indicating the pain she was in. Las Noches shook more violently and an enormous chunk of ceiling broke off, missing crushing them by inches. Finally, Hitsugaya formed the last seal. He held out his hands and a wide, deathly black gate opened in front of him.

"Come on!" he directed. The party didn't need to be told twice. They barreled into the gate, which sealed the second they were through. Hitsugaya did his best to ignore the pain in his leg as he ran through the severed world.

"We're almost there," he thought encouragingly. "We're almost…" And then he knew no more.

oooooooooooooooo

Hitsugaya awoke on a soft futon having no idea where he was or how long he had been asleep. His stomach and leg were covered in bandages, but he didn't feel much pain from them anymore. Dazzling sunlight streamed in through the window and Hitsugaya could see frost delicately spider webbed across the glass.

"We made it back huh?" he thought in relief. Suddenly he remembered.

"Hoshi!" he cried, bolting upright. The rapid movement caused a sharp pain in his stomach, but luckily, his wound didn't reopen. He heard a baby cry in the next room and the door slid open to reveal Karin, Ichigo, Matsumoto, and Urahara all seated around a low table. Hoshi was in Karin's arms, and she was cradling him gently.

"Ah, you're awake Hitsugaya taicho," Urahara said brightly.

"Taicho!" Matsumoto squealed, waving fervently at him. "This baby is _sooooooo_ cute! EEEEEE, how did you not tell me about him?! Did you know, he smiles at everything?" Hitsugaya nodded, exceedingly grateful that everyone had made it out of there alive and safe. He climbed out of his futon and joined them.

"What happened?" he asked. "The last thing I remember is fainting in the severed world."

"Yeah you did," Ichigo groaned. "I had to carry your sorry arse out of there you know." He rubbed his sore shoulder for emphasis. "And I was carrying Karin on top of it. I wasn't exactly uninjured either mind you. I brought you all back here and Tessai healed you right up." Hitsugaya scoffed at the thought of Ichigo slinging his conscious body unceremoniously across his shoulder. The thought was horribly demeaning.

"Thanks," he said grudgingly. He looked over at Karin, but she was pointedly avoiding his gaze. It was then that he remembered. Sure she had come to save him, and had cooperated with him during the fight, but now that they weren't on the brink of death, he had to deal with the fact that she clearly hadn't forgiven him for the things he said to her before he left. Not that he blamed her. But he couldn't leave it as it was. He had to apologize.

"Karin," he said. "Can we talk?" Karin snubbed him. Despite everything that had happened in Hueco Mondo, she was still angry at him. But there was so much pleading in his voice that she found herself melting ever so slightly. She sighed.

"Fine," she replied coolly. She got up, handed Hoshi to Matsumoto, and put her coat on.

"Oi, where are you two going?" Ichigo asked protectively.

"Outside," Karin replied nonchalantly. "Why, are you still worried about me Ichi-nii?" Ichigo sat back in a huff. Sure, he had heard the whole story about Karin becoming an illusionist while Hitsugaya was recovering, but he was still an overprotective older brother.

"Just don't do anything stupid," he warned. Karin rolled her eyes and headed outside. Feeling a little like a sick puppy, Hitsugaya followed.

The sun was high in the sky, reflecting blindingly off the pure white snow, and making it difficult for Hitsugaya to open his eyes all the way. He and Karin walked away from the shop to avoid being overheard by unscrupulous eavesdroppers. When they thought they were far enough out of earshot, Karin stopped and Hitsugaya turned to face her.

"Karin," he began. "I…"

SMACK! Hitsugaya was momentarily stunned by her slap, but it wasn't entirely unexpected.

"You bastard!" she shouted. "You complete and utter _bastard_! How dare you go off on me like that?! You had no right to speak to me that way! And then leaving me behind on top of it! When you know how much I care about Hoshi too! You could have at least done me the decency of giving me a second chance! You're the worst!" She breathed heavily for a moment, her outburst having left her slightly winded. Hitsugaya waited patiently throughout her rant.

"Do you feel better now?" he asked, doing his best not to smile. He feared his life would come to an abrupt halt if he did so at that particular moment. Karin took a deep breath.

"Yeah, I do." Hitsugaya smirked.

"Good." He leaned forward and planted a kiss on her lips. He pulled back and Karin gaped at him.

"Is that all you have to say for yourself?" she demanded. Hitsugaya shrugged.

"Is there anything else that needs to be said?" He smiled briefly. "Look, I'm really really sorry for what I did. I was just so upset that Hoshi was gone that I wasn't really thinking properly. I should never have said those things to you and I…" but Karin cut him off by returning the favor and kissing him.

"That's enough," she said happily. "You don't need to apologize anymore." Hitsugaya grinned.

"Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?" he asked. Karin smirked vindictively.

"Actually, there is." She leaned down and scooped up a handful of snow. "Catch!" she yelled, chucking the snowball at Hitsugaya's face. He blocked it, but it exploded all over him anyway.

"Oh, you are so going to regret that!" he challenged, picking up a hunk of snow and lobbing it at her. It hit her right in the face and she laughed heartily, despite the fact that her mouth was full of snow.

And so the snowball fight to end all snowball fights began. What do you expect when two masters of battle engage in one? What started out as a wild frenzy of throwing as much snow as physically possible rapidly turned into a rather un-gratuitous display of skills. Hitsugaya made a snowball, shunpoed around Karin, and shoved it down her back. In response, Karin illusioned the snow into a veritable tsunami, burying Hitsugaya completely. Not to be outdone, he used the same technique he had used in his battle against Uloqiorra, and infused the snow with his reiatsu, sending it flying at Karin in all directions and trapping her arms in legs in a frozen snare. He began to throw more snow at her while he had the chance, but Karin simply illusioned away the ice holding her and changed the direction of the flying snow in midair, causing it to pommel Hitsugaya instead. Charging forward, armed with a fresh snowball, Hitsugaya ran directly at her, but at the last second he slipped on a patch of ice and toppled forward, pinning Karin under him. They sank deep into the mound of snow they had landed in, hiding them away from the rest of the world. They were both startled to say the least, but neither of them made any attempt to get up.

Hitsugaya blushed at his current position, but joy at the moment overwhelmed his nervousness. He looked down at Karin. Her face was flushed, but from embarrassment, excitement, or cold he couldn't tell. Her expression was one Hitsugaya never in a million years expected to see. The smile on her face and the look in her eyes was soft, gentle, affectionate, and blissful. He decided that this was the time to show her exactly what she meant him. Reaching up a tentative hand, he placed it on her cheek. She was colder than he was, despite the fact that she was bundled up in winter wear while he was clad only in his shihakusho, and his hand almost felt like it was burning her face. But Karin seemed to enjoy the sensation. She closed her eyes and Hitsugaya slowly and carefully traced his fingers along her jaw, mouth, nose, eyes, and ears, mimicking exactly what she had done during that brief moment they had shared before the Espada had arrived. He knew she knew what it meant. That that moment had been more than just the effect of getting caught in the magneto. That it had been a true expression of his emotions. And now, when they were free of outside influences, they could do things properly.

He raised his hand to entwine his fingers in her hair, and as he did so, he leaned forward and captured her lips. Karin responded eagerly to the kiss, wrapping her arms around his waist and pulling him closer. They knew the war wasn't over. They knew that eventually, they would have to go back inside and explain to a suspicious Ichigo and an over-eager Matsumoto why they took so long. But at the moment, lost as they were in each other's embrace, they really couldn't have cared less.

**It's not over yet, but I think the next chapter will be the last one. Sorry people, but there are other stories that I want to write and I'm really not so pleased with how this one turned out, although I'm liking it a little more now than I did at one point. It kind of ran away from me and the next thing I knew I had no idea what was going on, but I think I've finally managed to tie it all together. Besides, Aizen's dead so the threat is gone, Hitsugaya and Karin are together, and Hoshi is safe, so really, there's not a whole lot more that needs to happen. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter :)**


	14. Protection

**Last chapter :)**

With the death of Aizen and the loss of their base in Las Noches, the Arrancar had fallen into lawless turmoil. Neither Gin or Tousen had been strong enough to reunite them. When the shinigami entered Hueco Mondo for their first raid after Aizen's death, they found Tousen's dead body covered in cero burns. Gin's was found in a similar state a week later. The infighting that resulted amongst the Arrancar and the remaining Espada only aided the shinigami in their purge of all of Aizen's creations. And finally, only one month after the death of Aizen, Yamamoto soutaicho officially declared the war over.

10th squad was having a party, and for once, Hitsugaya didn't protest. He felt that his subordinates deserved it and so, knowing he would hate himself later, he put Matsumoto in charge of organizing it. Needless to say, there was barely room to move in the office due to the sake bottles that overwhelmed even the paperwork backlog from Hitsugaya's stay in the living world (Matsumoto had quickly changed the subject and dashed from the room when he asked her about it, and his subsequent cry of "MATSUMOTO!" had earned him more than one nasty letter about the noise level in his squad). But right now, Hitsugaya was willing to overlook even that, as he was eagerly waiting for someone to arrive.

He felt her reiatsu before he saw her and his heart leapt involuntarily. Unconsciously, he ran a hand through his hair in a vain attempt to tame it and smoothed out the wrinkles on his haori. The door flew open and Hitsugaya had a brief glimpse of the largest smile he had ever seen before his vision was blocked by a mess of raven colored hair and his lips were practically stolen from him in Karin's enthusiasm to kiss him.

"I take it the meeting went well," Hitsugaya chided as Karin disentangled herself from him.

"Yamamoto soutaicho said that in recognition of my service to Soul Society, I'm allowed to visit whenever I want," she said happily. "Of course, it wouldn't have mattered either way, but still, it's nice to have permission." Hitsugaya smirked.

"Yeah, I wasn't particularly worried. After everything you and your brother did, the soutaicho would be crazy not to let you." Karin had indeed been included in more than one Arrancar extermination mission to Hueco Mondo over the past month. That, coupled with her assistance in the defeat of Aizen, made her one of the biggest heroes of the "Winter War", whose name stuck despite the fact that there hadn't really been much of a war.

"Besides," he added, "I would have come to visit you anyway." Karin beamed at him

"I know you would have," she replied before kissing him again.

"Taicho!" Matsumoto cried, throwing open the door. "It's time for the part…" Her voice trailed off as she took in the sight of the lip-locked Hitsugaya and Karin.

"Oh, well I'll just leave you two then." She winked at them and Hitsugaya flushed a deep shade of magenta as Karin snickered beside him.

"So, do you want to go to the party?" Karin offered.

"As if. I have no desire to watch my subordinates drink themselves into a stupor."

"But you're the taicho," Karin pointed out. "It wouldn't hurt you to socialize a little." Hitsugaya scoffed.

"Anyway," he changed the subject, "there's somewhere else I want to take you." Karin looked at him curiously, but no matter how much she pried, he wouldn't tell her. He simply took her hand and led her out of the overcrowded office.

They left 10th squad and walked through the streets of Seireitei. The eyes of every shinigami they passed were trained in on them, and Hitsugaya proudly attempted to ignore them. The story of Hitsugaya, Karin, and Matsumoto's defeat of Aizen was known by everyone in Soul Society, which led many to wonder how exactly Kurosaki Ichigo's sister ended up there in the first place. And how did she get so powerful? Rumors spread, and before long, almost everyone was convinced that there was something a little stronger than friendship between the 10th squad taicho and the new Illusionist. The fact that they were right didn't help improve Hitsugaya's mood. Karin seemed more amused by the rumors than anything, and although she saw no reason to hide their current status, she respected Hitsugaya's embarrassment and didn't proclaim anything out loud.

"I can't believe there's no snow here," Karin marveled. "It's even warm." Hitsugaya shrugged.

"The weather doesn't change much here. Anyway, we're here." Karin raised an eyebrow. They had arrived at the 5th squad barracks.

"Toushiro, what…?" she began, but before she could finish, Hitsugaya had knocked on a door.

"Come in," said a soft voice and Hitsugaya slid the door open. Inside was a girl with long, jet black hair, dressed in a white sleeping yukata. She was sitting in her futon cradling a tiny bundle in her arms.

"Shiro-chan!" the girl squealed and Hitsugaya actually smiled.

"It's Hitsugaya taicho," he corrected, but the smile never left his face. "Karin, I'd like you to meet Hinamori," he introduced. "Hoshi's mother. She finally woke up this morning."

"Oh, it's wonderful to finally meet you, Hinamori-san!" Karin said excitedly, sitting down beside her. "And to see that you're finally feeling better. Toushiro's been quite worried you know."

"Hitsugaya-kun, is this your girlfriend?" Hinamori pried. Hitsugaya blushed.

"I…ah…I guess so," he mumbled. Karin pushed him.

"Dolt," she teased, and Hinamori giggled.

"I want to thank you, Karin-san, for taking care of my son," Hinamori said sincerely. "I'm truly grateful."

"Ah, don't worry about that," Karin brushed her off. "It was fun. Really. Alright, so it hard at times, and babies really don't sleep, but I honestly loved it. Besides, Toushiro did half the work."

"You can come visit Hoshi whenever you want, ok," Hinamori said brightly.

"You know, you can give him a real name now," Karin told her. "We just called him Hoshi as a nickname." Hinamori shook her head.

"I like it," she replied happily. "It's sweet and cute and reminds me of everything you and Hitsugaya-kun went through to protect him." She beamed at Karin who smiled back.

"Oh then," she acceded.

"Oh, and by the way," Karin continued, "since you're such a talented illusionist, I was wondering if you wanted to train together sometime. I'd love to get some lessons from you." Hinamori nodded.

"Sure!" she consented. "I'd like that."

"Oi, are you going to come to Soul Society to see me or everyone else?" Hitsugaya ridiculed. Karin chuckled and kissed him on the cheek. He blushed furiously in response.

They spent a little more time chatting with Hinamori before Karin convinced Hitsugaya that he really should attend his party. Hinamori declined, saying she was still recovering, so Hitsugaya and Karin headed back to 10th squad by themselves.

"I can see why you care for her so much," Karin noted. "She's a wonderful person."

"Yeah, but man she worries me sometimes." Karin snickered.

"You sound like a protective older brother."

"Naw, she's older than me. But I admit to the protective brother part. Although, I haven't done a very good job of protecting her in the past." He squeezed his fist subconsciously, an action which Karin couldn't fail to notice. She reached out and pried his fingers open, forcing her hand into his instead.

"You protected Hoshi," she said sincerely. "That's good enough." Hitsugaya sighed and looked at her. How did he get so lucky to have her by his side? He really didn't deserve her. He squeezed her hand and gave her a small smile. They were still in public, but he didn't care. Who was he hiding this from? He leaned forward and planted a warm kiss on her lips. He felt Karin smirk satisfactorily before throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him back.

"Yeah," he agreed, gazing deeply into her eyes. "I guess it is."

**The End**

**I really want to thank you guys. This story was harder for me to get through than any of my others since I really didn't enjoy it and I'm really not proud of how it turned out, but your amazing words of encouragement helped me through it, made me not hate it so much, and pushed me to post, even though I know I took a lot longer to put up chapters than I usually do, for which I apologize profusely. I promise to try not to do that in future stories, since I know how frustrating that is (I'm a reader too.) Anyway, thanks again a thousand times and I hope to see you again in my next story!**


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